


The Enemy of my Enemy

by Twix3780



Series: Teddie Green [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Abuse of Power, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 5, Character Death, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Flashbacks, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Torture, In Media-Res, Major Original Characters - Freeform, Minor Original Character(s), Muggleborn Slytherin, Multi, Nightmares, Original Character(s), PTSD, Protective Siblings, Psychological Torture, Second War with Voldemort, Sibling Love, Slytherin Centric, Strong Female Characters, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 07:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28467573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twix3780/pseuds/Twix3780
Summary: It matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be... and Teddie Green is no exception. (Status: Work-in-Progress). [Sequel to the Muggleborn Slytherin].
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass & Original Female Character(s), Daphne Greengrass & Theodore Nott & Blaise Zabini & Original Character(s), Daphne Greengrass/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Mason Green & Astoria Greengrass, Mason Green/Astoria Greengrass, Teddie Green & Adrian Pucey, Teddie Green & Blaise Zabini, Teddie Green & Daphne Greengrass, Teddie Green & Derrick Bole, Teddie Green & Draco Malfoy, Teddie Green & Harry Potter, Teddie Green & Hermione Granger, Teddie Green & Marcus Flint, Teddie Green & Mason Green, Teddie Green & Mason Green & Robert Green & Rose Green, Teddie Green & Pansy Parkinson, Teddie Green & Professor Snape, Teddie Green & Ron Weasley, Teddie Green & Theodore Nott, Teddie Green and Cassius Warrington, Theodore Nott & Original Female Character(s), Theodore Nott/OC, Theodore Nott/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Teddie Green [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/909168
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. The Start of Fifth Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheAwesomeWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAwesomeWriter/gifts), [Scarlet_Nova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Nova/gifts).



> Category: Book » Harry Potter
> 
> Author: Twix3780
> 
> Language: English
> 
> Rated: Fiction T
> 
> Genre: Fantasy/Family
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
> 
> Author's Note: Welcome back! Merlin's Beard, has it been a year already? Before we start, I would first like to say thank you to everyone for their support throughout the first book. Your comments and reviews, even after I had finished posting the final chapter, were what kept me going through the last year, and pushed me to finish this sequel. I am both super excited and super nervous to see how these final years pan out, and I hope you enjoy the final journey.

**FOURTEEN-YEARS IN THE MAKING**

**SUTHERLAND HEIR DISCOVERED ALIVE AND WELL.**

_**By Jodie Mackie** _

_Fourteen years ago, the Sutherland family was hit by a devastating blow when the bodies of Guinevere and Emrys were found in their family home in North Suffolk. Speculations arose through the Wizarding community that possible Death Eater intervention had occurred at the residence as the Dark Mark hovered high in the sky._

_Witches and Wizards from all over the world offered their sympathies to one of the last Pureblood families, but many others held concerns for the young child that was said to have been in their care. Faye Sutherland was only two years old when she disappeared, believed to be dead._

_However, we now know that she did indeed survive and has been living amongst us, hidden in plain sight._

_Removed from her family, and kept from its History, young Faye has lived a life of secrecy as a young Muggleborn witch known as Teddie Green. Miss Green took the Wizarding World by storm back in 1991, when she started her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sort into Slytherin house._

_Slytherin house was founded by Salazar Slytherin in the late 10th century. It's characterised as favouring students with a set of specific qualities, such as, but not limited to, cunning, resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition. Traits that have led everyone to believe that students that graduate from Slytherin house are set to become dark witches or wizards._

_Miss Green was believed to be the first Muggleborn in existence, to ever be sorted into such a pure and noble house, but now we know that is not the case._

**~X~**

_"That's her."_

_"What's she doing back here?"_

_"I always knew Dumbledore was eccentric, but letting her return to school, what is he thinking?"_

_"She's_ _**his** _ _daughter, for Merlin's sake, she should be locked up in Azkaban like the rest of his nutcases."_

Teddie clenched her teeth and kept her eyes forward as she made her way along the corridor of the train. It had long since left the platform, and still, people were peering out of their compartments or standing up to get a good look of her as she passed.

"Blaise and Daphne are probably in the end compartment," said Theo.

"We're almost there, Ted," said Mason.

Teddie shrugged. "Yeah, and I'll be able to hide for the next couple of hours," she said. "But what about at school?"

"Why should you need to hide anyway?" Theo asked. "Since when do you care about what people think?"

He had a point. She'd never cared about the way people muttered about her when she was just the 'Muggleborn in Slytherin', why should she care now? They didn't know the full story, and to be quite honest, neither did she.

Finally, they reached the last carriage and found Astoria sitting at the window. She looked up and grinned as the trio entered.

"You made it!" Astoria said, jumping up to hug them. "I thought I was going to be on my own."

"Where are Daphne and Blaise?" Mason asked, sitting beside her as Teddie and Theo pushed their trunks into the remaining racks available.

"They got made Prefects this year," said Astoria. "They're in the Prefects compartment getting instructions from the Head Boy and Girl. Mum nearly had a heart attack when Daphne showed her the badge. It's really pretty."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that this year is Prefect year," said Theo. "Have they been gone long?"

Astoria checked her watch. "About ten minutes," she said. "Dad was a Prefect when he was in school, he reckons the Welcome Talk takes about an hour or so. You know, they need to welcome new Prefects, do introductions, and get their duties for the train."

"How was your summer?" Teddie asked.

"Boring," Astoria replied. "We spent it in Holland. Dad has family there. By the way, I'm sorry," she added. "We saw the _Evening Edition_. Mum and Dad were furious when it came out. They couldn't believe that the _Daily Prophet_ would just out you like that."

Teddie forced a smile.

The train rattled further north, speeding them out into the open country. The weather couldn't seem to make up its mind - one minute everything was sunny and happy, and then the next grey clouds floated overhead and Teddie felt that they would burst at any moment, drowning everything in a river of water.

"How was your birthday, Tori?" Mason asked. "Did you get my gifts?"

Astoria's face lit up. "Yes, thank you, they're great," she said. "Auntie Lulu was confused, but I showed her how they worked and she was fascinated. She loves Muggles, you know, always has. Grandma doesn't approve of it, of course, but..." she said with a shrug.

"I know you're going into your third year but I never thought to ask," said Teddie. "How did your grandmother take you being sorted into Ravenclaw and not Slytherin?"

"Not well, unfortunately," said Astoria. "She was convinced that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake, and was ready to message Dumbledore and ask for a do-over. Dad managed to calm her down, but she's still a bit miffed."

Teddie hesitated. "Has she seen the _Prophet_ at all?" she asked.

"You mean, does she know about you?"

Teddie nodded.

Astoria sighed heavily. "She was furious at mum and dad for letting Daphne and I associate with you," she said. "There were a few choice words about Muggles and Muggleborns that I wasn't supposed to have heard. But then she read that you were, you know..."

Teddie nodded.

"Well, let's just say that she's not fully accepting of our friendship; but she's not totally against it, either," said Astoria. "She seems to think that good thing's could come of it. But Grandma is always looking for an angle she can manipulate."

"Does she agree with Voldemort and his views of Muggles and Muggleborns?"

Astoria shrugged. "Dad never lets her discuss such matters when Daphne and I are in the room," she said.

"And with good reason," said Daphne, stepping into the compartment with Blaise. "Grandma doesn't approve of anyone that isn't pure and noble. Which is why it was hard to swallow you being a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin."

Teddie raised an eyebrow as Daphne sat opposite her. "Hello to you, too," she said.

"Sorry," Daphne apologised.

"Tough morning?"

Daphne shrugged. "It could've gone better," she said. "We've been stuck in the Prefects compartment since the train left the platform - you'll never guess who the other Prefects are, especially Gryffindors."

"Wait, don't tell me," said Theo. "Potter and Granger?"

"One out of two, I'm afraid," said Blaise. "It seems Potter's fame only gets him so far. Weasley is the new Prefect for Gryffindor."

"Ron?" Teddie asked.

Blaise and Daphne nodded.

"I bet Potter's thrilled," said Theo. "He's usually used to getting his way."

Teddie sank into her seat and turned her attention to the window. She was used to her friends bad-mouthing Harry, and while at times she agreed that he did seem to get his way, there were other times that he didn't have that luxury. More often than not, he was just found in the wrong place at the wrong time.

**~X~**

The weather remained undecided as they travelled farther and farther North. At around 8 pm, rain splattered the windows and Teddie found it hard to make out anything beyond the glass. Instead, she took to watching rain droplets surge down the pane, mentally racing them like she used to do as a child in the back of her dad's car.

Half an hour later, darkness rolled in and the lamps flickered to life. The atmosphere throughout the train turned to excitement, as every passenger knew that as soon as the lights came on then they were almost to Hogwarts. For the first years, it was a chance to see the castle for the first time, while returning students were happy to be back.

"We should get changed," said Daphne, standing on her seat and reaching into her trunk for her robes. She did the same for Astoria and then ushered the boys outside so that they could change.

They then swapped over.

While they waited for the boys to change, Teddie noticed that the people that were in the hallways kept glancing back at her. She watched as they nudged their friends, and either nodded or pointed in her direction, and then turned away whispering.

"Ignore them," said Daphne. "They're just going on what the _Evening Prophet_ says about you. They don't know the truth."

"I know, but this is the first article in the _Prophet_ that I can't argue against it being false," said Teddie. "It is the truth, and as much as I hate it..."

"They don't know you, Teddie," said Daphne. "They're making theories based on a news article. They don't know the real you."

"Neither do I," Teddie muttered.

Daphne opened her mouth to argue when the compartment door slid open and Blaise stepped aside to let them back in. As she retook her seat, Daphne clipped her Prefect's badge to her robe, just like Blaise had done with his own.

At last, the train began to slow down.

" _We will be reaching Hogsmeade station in two minutes_ ," said the conductor's voice up and down the train. " _Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately._ "

Daphne looked at Teddie. "We'll meet you up at the castle," she said. "Blaise and I are supposed to supervise the other students and make sure they know where they're going."

Teddie nodded and watched as they left. She then turned to the others and motioned for them to follow her. "Come on," she said.

Mason held tightly to his sister's hand as they were pushed and herded towards the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts.

"What are those things, d'you reckon?"

Teddie looked up as she heard Harry's voice from ahead. He was standing in front of the coaches while other students surged past him,.

"What things?" Weasley asked.

"Those horse things that are pulling the carriages," said Harry.

Ron looked perplexed as Teddie and her friends grew closer. He was staring at the space Harry was pointing at. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"He can't see them," said Teddie, breaking out of the crowd and stopping beside the two Gryffindors. "Not like you can."

Ron glared at Teddie. "What do you want?" he asked. "Come to do the job that dear old dad couldn't?"

Teddie bristled but chose to ignore him. Instead, she focused her attention on Harry. "They're called Thesterals," she replied. "I've been able to see them since the second year. Theo can see them too." She added, nodding towards the carriage where her best friend and brother had disappeared.

"What are Thesterals?" Harry asked.

"Well, they are what you see," said Teddie, pointing at the nearest horse. "But the story behind why some people can see them and others can't is rather daunting. Marcus told me that they can only be viewed by people who have seen death. I saw Quirrell die in our first year, and you saw Cedric last year."

Harry's face dropped.

Teddie reached for his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean -" she started.

"No, it's okay," said Harry. "How are you, Teddie?"

Teddie shrugged. "About the same as you, I'm guessing," she said. "I don't believe what the _Prophet_ is saying about you, by the way. I have believed you since the first day we met, and I still believe you now. Just know that you can count on me for anything."

"Thanks, Teddie," said Harry, smiling. He squeezed her hand and then released it, before following Ron towards the carriages.

Following their example, Teddie ducked into the one her friends were occupying and settled into the seat beside Theo. The door snapped shut, and the carriage started to move upward towards the castle.

~X~

The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor and disappeared beyond the double doors of the Great Hall. Teddie parted ways with Mason and Astoria on the threshold and followed Theo to their usual seats at the Slytherin table.

Again, Teddie noticed that people were watching her, but this time she also noticed that they were split between whispering about her and whispering about Harry. Their gazes seemed to shift between the pair and their conversations were rattled with their names.

_"I wonder how Potter is dealing with the news?"_

_"Yeah, I heard he and Green were friends."_

_"Do you reckon that will last?"_

_"Doubtful. She's the daughter of the man that killed his parents."_

_"I agree. If I were Potter, I'd drop her immediately."_

Daphne and Blaise joined them a few minutes later, having caught one of the last carriages up from the station, and were in the process of seating themselves opposite Theo and Teddie when Parkinson decided she wanted to join in on the gossip.

"How was your summer, Faye?" Parkinson asked.

Teddie levelled her with a glare. "Before you even continue down that road, let me stop you," she interrupted. "My name isn't Faye, and neither you nor Malfoy has cared about my summer, much less my life, for the last four years, so let's not start now."

"I'm trying to be friendly," said Parkinson. "Dark times are heading our way, we could all -"

"You're trying to get a leg up in whatever's about to happen," said Teddie. "You probably didn't even come up with this plan yourselves; I wouldn't put it past your parents to tell you to try and befriend me."

Parkinson opened her mouth to reply when the Hall fell silent.

Teddie tore her gaze from her housemates, missing the glare that Parkinson gave her, and turned her gaze to the front of the Hall. The first thing she noticed was that the Gameskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures' professor, Hagrid was not present, instead, an unfamiliar woman sat in his chair.

Then, the doors at the back opened, and a thin line of first years trotted in. At the head of the line, carrying the familiar three-legged stool and old-frayed Sorting Hat was Professor McGonagall. She set the stool and hat on the stage and stepped aside.

The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song. It rattled on and on about the founders and how they had built the school to teach others about the forms of magic - it mentioned how Slytherin only wanted students of pureblood, Ravenclaws wanted students who favoured knowledge, Gryffindors wanted students with bravery, and how Hufflepuff had no preference.

The song went on for a good five minutes before the hat fell silent and the hall burst into cheers, although there were a smattering of confused whispers and muttered conversations about what the Sorting Hat had been talking about during its speech.

"It sounded like a warning," said Malfoy, leaning forward. He stared intently at Teddie. "What do you think?"

"I think you need to stop talking to me like I'm your friend," said Teddie. She turned her attention to Theo, Daphne, and Blaise. "But he does have a point. It did sound like a warning. I wonder if it's given warnings before?"

Blaise shrugged.

"Abercrombie, Euan," Professor McGonagall called, silencing all lingering conversations.

A terrified-looking boy stumbled forward and put the hat on his head.

The hat considered for a moment before shouting - "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered.

Teddie rubbed her eyes as the first years thinned more and more. She cheered each time a new student joined Slytherin, eager to learn whether or not her friends knew of them or their families. She wasn't surprised to learn that they were all, at least Purebloods or even Halfbloods.

Finally, Rose Zeller became a Hufflepuff and McGonagall cleared away the hat and the stool.

"Finally," said Blaise, rubbing his hands. He and Daphne had missed the sweet trolley on the train, and although his friends had shared their lunch and snacks with him, he was still starving. There were only so many pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs a person could eat.

As the Hall settled in for their evening meal, Dumbledore stood and opened his arms wide with a pleasant grin. "To our newcomers," he boomed, surveying the Hall over the top of his glasses. "Welcome! To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was a slight chuckle and then an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down. Then the tables were covered with food in all shapes, sizes, and fragrances. Teddie inhaled deeply and reached for a plate of bacon.

Her friends laughed and she stuck her tongue out at them. Five years on, and she still wasn't bored of it yet.

* * *


	2. The Common Room Conflict

**To those concerned, I have my reasons for not showing the summer between the last book and this one. But, that does not mean it won't crop up throughout the story.**

* * *

When all the students had finished eating, Dumbledore stood from his chair and the noise diminished at once, and all heads turned to the front of the room.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to all students, and a few of the older students should remember that, too. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes -"

Teddie bit her lip and lowered her gaze, while Theo chuckled and nudged her. "To be fair," he said. "Your shield is uncontrollable at best."

"- nor are several other things," Dumbledore continued. "The full list can be found fastened to Mr. Flich's office door. If you wish to check it over to see what else is not permitted."

"Who'd be foolish enough to go in there to check?" Malfoy muttered.

Despite herself, Teddie couldn't help but agree.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons."

Teddie perked up. She had noticed the disappearance of Hagrid - it would be hard not to, given his sheer size - but where was he if a new teacher were needed to come in and take over his lessons?

"Good riddance," said Parkinson. "He had no right teaching."

"Says the girl that is only taking his class to fill her timetable," said Teddie, glancing across the table. "I mean, you're not at all interested in Magical Creatures, are you?"

Parkinson opened her mouth to retort but broke off as Teddie turned away without giving her a chance.

"We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore continued, and Teddie scanned the table to see a squat woman, dressed from head-to-toe in pink, sitting beside Professor Snape.

There was a polite round of applause.

"Why is she here?" Daphne whispered, leaning across the table.

Teddie cocked her head to the side. "Who?" she asked.

"Umbridge," said Blaise. "She works at the Ministry of Magic."

"She's the Undersecretary to the Minister," Daphne added. "Her being here is not good."

Teddie glanced up at the teacher's table and eyed the woman in pink. She had short mouse-brown hair and toad-like features. Suddenly, she coughed and stood up. Silence fell over the hall - no one had ever interrupted Dumbledore's start-of-term speech before and were quite stunned that she had.

Dumbledore, himself, only looked taken aback, whereas other teachers hadn't bothered to hide their surprise. Teddie noticed that Professor Snape, despite not showing any signs of surprise, had narrowed his eyes at Umbridge as she spoke in a sickly-sweet tone as if addressing a hall of pre-school children and not young adults.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" she continued, "and to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

Teddie glanced around. None of the faces she could see looked happy.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Umbridge added.

"Somehow I doubt that" Theo muttered.

Teddie continued to watch Umbridge. She noticed that her demeanor had changed, that she was no longer smiling like a psycho staring down at its victims and had metaphorically adjusted a tie that no one could see and began addressing them like they were in a business meeting.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young Witches and Wizards to be vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instructions. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back.

"Every Headmaster and Headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."

Teddie rolled her head to the side, resting it comfortably against Theo's shoulder, as Umbridge's voice and dull speech lulled her into a stupor. Across from her, Daphne had started to pick her nails, Blaise was cleaning his Prefect badge and Theo had rested his head atop of Teddie's and tangled his fingers with hers beneath the table.

They weren't the only ones no longer listening, either. All over the hall, students had taken to either whispering or giggling amongst themselves, while others seemed to be staring at Umbridge out of politeness, but neither seemed to be taking in a word she was saying.

But Umbridge either didn't seem to notice the restlessness or she didn't care in the slightest, she just kept rattling on and on about traditions."... because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be perfected, and pruning whatever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Teddie blinked as Umbridge finally sat down. "Wait, what?" she asked, looking around at her friends.

Daphne shook her head and even Theo looked lost.

"She's as dull as a brush, I'll give her that," said Blaise. "But I understood some of what she was trying to say."

"I'm surprised anyone managed to stay awake through it all," said Teddie, fighting back a yawn.

"I think that was her intention," said Malfoy, leaning forward and dropping his voice. "I mean, if no one pays attention to what she has to say then they're even more surprised later when changes are made, aren't they?"

Teddie furrowed her brow at him. "What changes?" she asked.

"I may not have understood everything that she said, but my father said something like this would happen this year," said Malfoy. "He said something about the Ministry having more of a say in what happens at Hogwarts than they have done in years."

"What are you talking about?" Teddie asked. "Since when does the Ministry have any say in what happens behind the closed doors of Hogwarts? That's for Dumbledore and the teacher's attention, only."

Malfoy shook his head. "The school board have a say in what happens around here, too," he said. "They tried back when the Chamber of Secrets was open, but everyone shut them down and reinstated Dumbledore, despite kids being attacked under his watch, yourself included."

"I distinctively remember you _wanting_ me to be attacked," Teddie replied, hotly.

"What's past is past, Green," said Malfoy. "We live in dangerous times. You should know that better than anyone. We need a firmer hand around here, and Dumbledore just can't provide a sense of security anymore. That's where the Ministry comes in."

Daphne leaned forward. "So, you're saying that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Your father works for the Ministry," said Malfoy, shrugging at her. "Doesn't he tell you anything?"

Daphne narrowed her eyes, but the conversation was interrupted by the scraping of stools all over the hall.

Teddie looked up. Dumbledore had finished his speech - whatever it was - and sat back down, he was now talking with Professor McGonagall, while the rest of the school was getting ready to leave the Great Hall.

"We'll talk later," said Blaise, standing up and straightening his robes. "Daphne and I have to take the first years down to the Common Room. Teddie, Theo, see you soon."

Theo nodded and watched as his two friends escorted the first years away, once they were gone, along with the other first years, the two made their way into the Entrance Hall.

"Teddie. Teddie!"

Mason and Astoria pushed their way through the crowd. "Did you hear that Umbridge woman?" he asked, finally reaching his sister. "Do you know what it means? I have an idea, but I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I think it means that the -"

"Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts," said Teddie.

Mason blinked and cocked his head to the side. "You were listening?" he asked with a teasing smile.

Teddie gasped in mock surprise. "I listen," she defended. "Not all the time, but sometimes."

Astoria giggled.

"Then how did you know that is what Umbridge meant?" Mason asked. "Have you secretly been studying and not told me?"

Teddie rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "No. Malfoy just told us," she answered.

"Malfoy?" Astoria and Mason repeated.

"He said that his father had warned him about it over the Summer," said Theo. "Why he was telling us, I don't know."

Teddie heaved a sigh. "It's because of me," she said. "He's telling us because of me. Malfoy Snr must've told him to tell us, to try and get us on his side or something. I mean, could you imagine how well-off the Malfoy's would be if they had me on their side?"

"And not just you," said Astoria. "But the Dark Lord, too."

"As if my life at Hogwarts couldn't get any worse," Teddie whined.

Mason smiled slightly and wrapped his arms around his sister. "You'll be okay," he said. "Everything will blow over, soon, you'll see."

Teddie smiled weakly and kissed her brother's head. "We should get to bed," she said. "Don't want to be caught out after hours on our first night back."

The others nodded and parted ways.

"I wonder how Professor Snape's start-of-term speech will go?" Theo asked, leading Teddie through the barely lit dungeons.

Teddie shrugged. "Can't be any worse than Umbridge's', right?" she said.

**~X~**

Wrong. Snape's speech, while had explained many things about what had happened earlier in the Great Hall with Umbridge, didn't stop the raised voices, arguments, and finger-pointing - mostly at Teddie - when he had finished and left the Common Room.

"It's a good thing that the Ministry is getting involved with school affairs, I mean, look at the riffraff that has let in over the years."

"My mum almost sent me to Durmstrang," said first-year, Robbie Bentley. He nodded in Teddie's direction. "It would have been her fault."

Teddie raised an eyebrow at him. "My fault?" she asked before she could stop herself. "How would it be my fault?"

"My mum told me all about you," said Robbie. "Warned me, more like. ''You stay away from that Mudblood, Robbie. She's bad news.'"

Another first-year, by the name of Henrietta Cleave, nodded. "Yeah, same here," she said. "Normally my parents don't tell me anything that happens in the _Daily Prophet_ , but they made sure that I knew about you. They showed me the whole article, including your picture. They're going to be furious that I'm in the same house as you."

Teddie rolled her eyes. "Then I guess it's a good thing that you're a first-year," she said. "The only time you'll see me is in the Common Room, and even then, if we go out of our way to not cross each other's paths, we'll survive the whole year without being near each other."

"Why is she even allowed back here?" Warrington asked. "She's more of a danger to any of us than Potter is."

"I was waiting for when Harry would be brought into this," said Teddie, turning to the older boy. He had had it in for her ever since her first day at Hogwarts, but she was pleasantly surprised that he was arguing against her being back, and not encouraging her to be friends with him. Maybe not all pureblood families wanted Voldemort on their side.

Warrington sneered at Teddie. "I always knew there was something about you, Green," he said. "What Mudblood do you know that can speak to snakes?"

Teddie swallowed as a hushed silence fell over the Common room.

"What you talking about, Warrington?" asked seventh-year Graham Montague. He had introduced himself as the new Slytherin Captain - he had been made it last year, but given the Triwizard Tournament had been on, and Quidditch matches cancelled, it hadn't been a cause of concern. This year was different.

Warrington smirked as a look of dread crossed Teddie's face. "In the second year, I overheard Green and her friends in the library. They were discussing what had happened to Flich's cat, and Green asked Flint if there were any creatures out there that could talk that we could hear - she can already see Thesterals, you know," he said.

Teddie felt her hands clench into fists, her nails cutting against the palms of her hands.

"I didn't mean to overhear them, and you can already guess that I wasn't meant to hear the conversation," Warrington continued. "But Pucey mentioned Parselmouth and then Green and Nott left. They later returned with her two snakes, and, above and behold, Green started talking to them. You could hear the hiss from where I was behind the shelves. I tried to confront her about it, but she decided to play coy and pretend she had no idea what I was talking about."

Marlene looked between Teddie and Warrington and shook her head. "What does it matter?" she asked. "So, Teddie can talk to snakes. It's not a big deal!"

"It is a big deal!" piped up second year, David Henske. "Parselmouths are evil. You-Know-Who can speak to them."

"That's where she must get it from," said a fourth-year, Seth James. "She must've inherited from her father. It's proof that she's just like him."

Teddie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because everything I have done in the last four years shows that I am _just like him_ , doesn't it!" she snapped, turning her glare onto Seth. He shrank back, his eyes wide in alarm. "I admit it, I can speak to snakes, yes, but that doesn't make me _like_ anyone. I am still me. I'm _not_ like him."

"The _Daily Prophet_ says otherwise," said Warrington.

"Yes, because everything they say is the truth!"

Warrington's lip curled into a sneer. "So, by your standards, what they're saying about Potter is a lie?" he asked.

Teddie stood firm. "Your father is a Death Eater," she growled. "Along with many other parents of kids in this house. You know that Harry is telling the truth. You can deny it as much as you damn well please, but we all know that you're lying to save your skins. Voldemort -" several people shivered at the name "- is back, anyone who says otherwise is either stupid or too blind to accept otherwise."

Turning on her heels, Teddie stormed out of the common room and up to her dormitory. She was already dressed and pulling the curtains around her four-poster bed when Daphne entered the room.

"So much for laying low tonight," said Daphne, setting her badge down on the bedside table and pulling her robes over her head.

Teddie lay still, staring at the canopy of her bed. She listened to Daphne fuss around getting ready for bed. She wanted to say something, anything. But she was still annoyed by her confrontation with the rest of her house; even though she should've been used to it by now.


	3. The Whispered Voices

The next morning, Teddie sat in her usual place at the Slytherin table, her head down and eyes scanning the timetable that had just been handed out by Professor Snape. To say the interaction between her and her Head of house had been frosty would have been an understatement, she hadn't spoken to him since he had rescued her from Little Hangleton last year.

Teddie knew that at some point they would need to talk, but for now, while she tried to deal with everything that happened, she was happy to avoid him. She understood that, while being at Hogwarts, it would be difficult to avoid him indefinitely, he was her Head of House, after all, and also her Potions Professor, she had classes with him at least twice a week – sometimes four.

"Morning," Marlene chirped, sliding into the seat beside Teddie. She looked happy, refreshed, and ready to face the day. "Sleep well?"

Teddie shrugged.

"After last night, I'm surprised any of us slept, to be fair," said Judy, sliding into a seat opposite Marlene.

Teddie licked her lips and lowered her timetable. She reached for a crumpet and some butter. She had been waiting for someone to bring up last night, Daphne had briefly mentioned it last night after coming to bed, and Teddie was already asleep when Parkinson and Bulstrode had come up.

"You know we're on your side, right?" Marlene asked, glancing at Teddie.

Again, Teddie shrugged. She would not be surprised if they weren't.

"Yeah, my mum and dad may think you're loony," said Judy. "But they don't know you."

Teddie glanced up. "Why would they think I was loony?" she asked. "I'm not the one saying that Voldemort is back. I mean, he is back, I can confirm Harry's story, but still…"

"Well, a lot of people think your loony for claiming to be Faye Sutherland," said Judy. "Haven't you heard the whispers?"

Teddie furrowed her brow. The only whispers she had heard were from people pointing and talking about her, wondering why she was back at Hogwarts and not locked up in Azkaban. Sure, not everyone was openly saying that she was Voldemort's daughter, but the whispers conveyed that, didn't they?

Teddie paused. Now that she thought about it, she had not actually heard someone say, _"that's Faye"._ She had heard some people say _"that's his daughter"_ but maybe she had only thought that because she was already guessing what people would say.

"Hey," Marlene said, nudging Teddie and jarring her from her thoughts.

"Sorry," Teddie sighed. "I'm just – "

"Good morning, Faye."

Teddie took a deep, calming breath, and looked up at Parkinson as she slid into the seat that Blaise usually occupied.

"That seat's taken," said Teddie.

"Oh, I know," Parkinson nodded. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Teddie cocked her head to the side. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, I heard you moaning in your sleep last night," said Parkinson. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare. I wanted to wake you, but mum has always warned me about waking people up. I did not want to hurt you, or myself. You settled down after a while, but I was still concerned."

Teddie glanced sideways at Marlene. Parkinson had never cared about her wellbeing before, why did she seem to now?

"You don't have to tell me, but what did you dream about?"

"Why should she want to tell you that?" Daphne asked, arriving with Blaise and Theo. She and Theo took their seats, while Blaise waited for Parkinson to move.

Parkinson huffed and slid back into her usual seat, allowing Blaise to sit opposite Teddie. "I was just making sure my roommate was feeling okay," she said. "Her so-called friends obviously didn't care. You didn't even wake up last night when she was having a nightmare. What, did you cast a silencing charm around your bed so that you didn't have to listen?"

Teddie glanced at Daphne.

"Of course not!" Daphne snapped. "In the past four year, I have slept without magic around my bed to make sure that Teddie is okay. If there is any residual magic around then someone else put it there, probably you, to make it seem that I don't care for my friend's wellbeing."

Parkinson shrugged and turned her attention back to Teddie. "I know you're scared, and probably wondering who you can trust right now, but I assure you, I am here to help," she said. "I know we have had our differences in the past, but I was wrong. I'm here for you, Faye, just say the word."

Teddie stared at Parkinson.

Parkinson smiled, it looked, to Teddie, that it hurt her a lot to have to play nice, and then turned to Millicent as she arrived.

As Breakfast played out, Professor Snape returned with the last of the timetables for students that hadn't been present during his first sweep, and then returned to the teacher's table.

Teddie watched him settle back into his breakfast, and then turned to her friends. "I have to go meet Mason," she said, packing away her things. "He's meeting me in the Entrance Hall after breakfast, and class starts in less than thirty minutes."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Theo asked, swallowing a mouthful of orange juice.

"Finish first," said Teddie. "I'll see you in History of Magic."

Theo nodded and while Teddie stood, he remained seated with Daphne and Blaise. They both looked concerned as they watched Teddie stride away, swinging her book bag up onto her shoulder as she left the Great Hall.

"Anyone feel like she's pulling away?" Blaise asked, lowering his voice.

Theo and Daphne nodded.

**~X~**

History of Magic had never been Teddie's favourite subject at Hogwarts. She usually spent it snoozing on Theo's shoulder, especially when the lesson was the first one of the days, and on a Monday no less. But the only downside to it this year was that the other students, the ones that weren't listening to Binns, at least, where huddled together in groups and glancing back at her from over their shoulders.

Shrinking down in her seat, Teddie pulled the heels of her feet up onto the edge of her chair and buried her head in her knees.

"Try not to think about it," said Theo, sliding down in his own chair. "They don't know what happened."

"I think that is why they are whispering," said Teddie. "If they had any clue then they wouldn't be spending as much time speculating about it."

"Aw, come on, Ted, you don't normally care what people say or think about you."

Teddie glanced up at him. "This is different, Theo," she protested. "They aren't talking about me because I was a simply Muggleborn that got put into the 'bad' house, they're talking because I am the daughter of him."

"You're still you," said Theo. "You're nothing like him."

Teddie sighed and lowered her gaze. She knew was nothing like Voldemort or Avery, but she was tired of people whispering about her behind her back. Over the summer, she had been able to hide away from the gossip, her parents were subscribed to the Daily Prophet, and neither Mason nor Theo dared get a copy in fear of her seeing it.

The only reason they knew about the article concerning her truth being leaked was because John Kyle had rushed over the night before their return to Hogwarts, brandishing a copy and looking terrified.

~~~~~

" _I know you're mad at me, and I don't blame you, but you have to see this," said John, pushing a copy of the_ Evening Prophet _into Teddie's hands. "Mum is trying to get to the bottom of who leaked the news, but they know, Ted."_

_Teddie sucked in a breath, her eyes skimming each word and her heart dropping further into her stomach. She felt tears prick the corner of her eyes and, by the time she had reached the bottom of the article, she was shaking in both fear and anger._

_The truth was out, and her life was about to become a lot worse than it already was._

_~~~~~_

The dungeons were almost as cold as the air outside. Teddie pulled her robes tighter around her as she stood alongside her friends outside the Potions classroom, waiting for Snape to permit them entry. In recent years, Teddie had been used to standing opposite her fellow Slytherins, usually being at odds with them, but this year she found, and probably because they believed her to be a weapon to the Dark Lord, the rest of her house stood alongside her.

Teddie kept her gaze down as the Gryffindor's shuffled in, each one leaning against the wall opposite the Slytherin house, no one spoke, and the silence seemed to get heavier by the second.

Words like 'traitor' and 'dangerous' flittered through the air, the only words used to break the silence, but Teddie refused to look up and acknowledge whoever had said them. In recent years, she would've been the first one to jump forward and defend herself, but right now she only wanted the floor to open up and swallow her, at least then she wouldn't have to deal with the shame of being related to a mass murderer.

"Hi, Teddie," said a small voice.

Teddie blinked and looked up, surprised that someone was addressing her. Her gaze met Hermione's warm brown eyes, and suddenly she felt like all her problems had melted away, and everything was normal again. If a Muggleborn witch could talk to her like she wasn't about to kill her, then maybe others would, too.

However, normal didn't last long, as Parkinson stepped forward, putting herself between Hermione and Teddie, like a barrier.

"Faye doesn't talk to Mudbloods, Granger," Parkinson sneered.

"Don't call her a mudblood!" Teddie snapped, despite herself. She knew that speaking up and defending Hermione would earn her the attention of everyone in the corridor.

Both Hermione and Parkinson turned to Teddie.

"You're defending her?" Parkinson asked. "She's filth compared to you."

"Until last summer, I was filth to you," said Teddie. "Nothing has changed, Parkinson, so I don't see why you're acting like it has."

Parkinson looked like Teddie had just slapped her. "I am trying to protect your reputation!" she said.

"I don't need you to protect anything!" Teddie said. "I can stand up for myself." She looked back at Hermione and offered a small smile. "Did you have a good summer?"

Parkinson huffed and turned her back.

Hermione shrugged. "Not the same as it normally is," she said. "But, I suppose, that goes for everyone, huh?"

Teddie nodded slowly. "I suppose it does," she agreed.

The ominous door of the dungeon opening, broke up any further conversations. The two houses filed into the room, each one taking a table and either pairing up with their usual partners – Theo and Teddie, and Daphne and Blaise – or choosing a table that allowed three people to sit together – Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Professor Snape swept to the front of the class. "Settle down," he said, his voice the same silky smooth it was every time he spoke. "Before we begin today's lesson. I think it appropriate that to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of you are, I expect you to scrape and "acceptable" in your O. W. Ls or suffer my displeasure."

Teddie rolled her eyes.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I only take the absolute best into my N. E. W. T. potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye. But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell, so whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students."

Teddie glanced sideways at Theo. She had already decided that she wasn't going to continue with her Potion lessons after this year, she intended to go fully into Charms, if she could.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up in Ordinary Wizarding Level: The Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned; if you are too heavy handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing."

Teddie opened her notebook as Snape tapped the blackboard with his wand and several ingredients and the potions preparation method appeared in white chalk.

"You will find everything that you need in the store cupboard," continued Snape, pointing his wand at the door at the back of the room, it swung open as if on an invisible release. "You have an hour and a half. Start!"

As Blaise and Theo left to get ingredients, Daphne and Teddie scribbled down the instructions, and set up their cauldrons. From what she had written, Teddie could tell that this potion was going to be very fiddly, everything had to be added at exactly the right time and in a specific order for it to have its desired effect.

Not to mention the stirring had to be done a certain number of times, both clockwise and counterclockwise. It took so much effort to focus on the potion, that those who had partnered up barely had enough time to confer with one another, except to be sure that they weren't overstepping one another or lagging.

"You should have a light silver vapor rising from your potion," said Snape, when there was ten minutes left.

Teddie glanced sideways. She and Theo had managed to get the desired effect, which meant that Snape had no reason to criticize them, not that he ever picked on a Slytherin in front of another house.

"Potter, what is this supposed to be?"

Teddie bit back a groan as she, along with the rest of her house, looked towards the back of the room. Snape always seemed to take pleasure in criticizing Harry in front of the rest of the class.

"The Draught of Peace," said Harry, tensely.

"Tell me, Potter," said Snape, softly. "Can you read?"

Draco Malfoy laughed.

"Yes, I can," said Harry.

"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."

Teddie glanced down at her notes – _Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore._ – looked back at her in her handwriting.

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?" Snape asked.

"No," said Harry.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No," Harry repeated. "I forgot the hellebore…"

"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. _Evanesco_." Snape waved his wand over Harry's cauldron and the contents disappeared. "Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing."

Teddie waved her wand and a large puddle of potion floated into the flagon that Theo was holding. He sealed it and wrote both their names on the front, and then took it up to Snape's desk.

"Homework – twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

**~X~**

Mason and Astoria joined the Slytherin table for lunch, and Mason spent the whole hour excitedly telling Teddie about his new classes.

"Of course, I knew I was going to love Ancient Runes," said Mason. "The work you and Theo had last year proved that, especially since I used to do most of it for you."

"What?!" Blaise and Daphne exclaimed and Teddie buried her face in her hands while Theo burst out laughing.

"Once!" Teddie protested. "He did it once for me."

Mason chuckled as Teddie shoved him playfully. "Besides, I had already read your book from front to back, so mine was barely open. You chose Berkano as your rune in your first lesson, didn't you?"

Teddie nodded.

"Well, I chose one, and Professor Babbling said that it was Merlin's mark," Mason continued. "Apparently, no one has ever been able to decipher it, and Dumbledore is supposedly to have a book that has the mark on it. I wonder if he'd let me borrow it so I could try and decipher it?"

Teddie rolled her eyes and swallowed a goblet of milk. "I'm surprised you didn't choose a rune for ambition or something," she said.

"That is what I said," said Astoria. "Granted, I didn't take Ancient Runes."

"Didn't you have Muggle Studies this morning?" Daphne asked.

Astoria nodded. "You were right when you said it was interesting," she said.

After lunch, the friends split up and headed for their different classes. Daphne and Blaise had Divination, while Theo and Teddie had, coincidentally, Ancient Runes.


	4. The Truth Will Out

There weren't many people in Ancient Runes, at least not enough that Teddie had to worry about them talking about her. Hermione sat at a table in front of Theo and Teddie, by herself, and looked around at them when Professor Babbling told everyone to make a group of three or more in order to complete today's task.

Teddie shuffled to the left, making room for Hermione, and the three set to work on finding a Rune that could represent them.

By the end of the lesson, the trio had chosen three different runes, and each agreed to write half a parchment on them before next lesson.

"Time to find out what Umbridge has in store for us," said Theo, leading Teddie and Hermione out of the class at the end of the lesson.

"I'm curious how Harry and Ron did in Divination," said Hermione.

Teddie nodded. "Daphne and Blaise have that class, too," she said. "Do Harry and Ron enjoy it as much as Daphne and Blaise do?"

Hermione shook her head. "I told them they should've dropped it when I did, last year," she said. "But they never listen."

"They're boys, when do they ever listen?" asked Teddie.

"Hey!" Theo exclaimed.

Teddie and Hermione laughed.

Upon reaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they entered together and them split off, heading towards their respective friends.

Professor Umbridge was already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on her head.

Daphne and Blaise offered small smiles as Theo and Teddie took their seats from behind their desks, and the silencing that filled the room as the rest of the class entered was deafening.

"Well, good afternoon!" Umbridge said once everyone was present and seated.

A few people mumbled a response, which caused Umbridge to shake her head and tutter under her breath.

"That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they all chanted back at her.

"There, now," said Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Teddie shared a startled look with Theo at the order of 'wands away'. The command had never come from a Defense teacher in the past, and they were curious what Umbridge expected them to learn without their wands.

"Even Lockhart never told us to put our wands away," Teddie whispered.

Theo shrugged and pocketed his wand.

While the class pulled out ink wells, quills, and parchment from their backpacks, Umbridge opened her own handbag and extracted her wand.

"Clearly the rule of 'no wands' doesn't apply to her," Theo muttered.

Teddie bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

With her wand, Umbridge tapped on the blackboard and the words – **Defense Against the Dark Arts: A Return to Basic Principles** – appeared in thin white letters.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face them. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry – approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now being rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She rapped the blackboard again, and several more sentences appeared.

For a couple of minutes, the only sound in the room was the scratching of quills on parchment.

Teddie furrowed her brow as she wrote each word carefully, trying her hardest to see what exactly Umbridge intended for them to learn. She expected a theory-based course to be something that Ancient Runes or Potions, where wand-waving was hardly essential, but Defense Against the Dark Arts was a practical lesson.

"Has everybody got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge asked once everyone had finished.

There was a dull murmur.

"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge."

"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basic for Beginners.' There will ne no need to talk."

While Umbridge settled into her chair, students all over the room started to exchange looks before skimming through their books to the allocated pages. How was reading a book supposed to help them in their O.W.L.s?

As she stared at the page, Teddie jumped as a piece of paper landed in her field of vision. She opened, glancing at Umbridge discreetly, and found half of the class staring at something across the room, she paused and turned to see what had caught their attention, and nudged Theo when she saw Hermione sitting with her hand in the air.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge asked Hermione.

"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.

"Well, we're reading just now," said Umbridge. "If you have any queries, we can deal with them at the end."

"I've got a query about your course aimes,2 said Hermione.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is -?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge.

"Well, I don't," said Hermione.

Teddie shared a surprised look with Daphne.

"There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells," Hermione continued.

One-by-one heads turned to the board. Hermione was right, there was nothing there about defensive spells.

"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

There was a small murmur as students turned to one another, questioning whether they had heard Umbridge right.

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. -?"

"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.

Umbridge smiled widely and turned her back on him. Teddie watched as Harry and Hermione raised both their hands.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?" Umbridge asked.

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?" Hermione asked.

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Umbridge.

"No, but – "stammered Hermione.

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way – "

"What use is that?" Harry asked loudly. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a – "

"Hand, Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge said.

Harry raised his hand and Umbridge ignored him. "Your name is?" she asked, her gaze falling onto the Slytherin side of the room.

"Daphne Greengrass."

Teddie looked to her friend.

"Well, Miss Greengrass?"

"Well, it's like Potter said, isn't it?" Daphne asked. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free – "

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

Daphne shook her head.

"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," said Umbridge, addressing the whole class, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed, you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet dark attacks every other day – "

"No, we haven't," said Hermione.

"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only actually performed them on you – "

"Well, he turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise," said Blaise.

"But we still learned loads," said Dean Thomas.

"Hands!" Umbridge snapped at them both. "Now, it is the view of the ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more sufficient to get your through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about."

Parvati raised her hand. "Parvati Patil and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense O.W.L.?" she asked. "Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter curses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells."

"So, you're saying that the first time we actually do a physical spell is during the examination?" Daphne asked.

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory – "

"What good is theory in the real world?" Harry asked.

Umbridge clasped her hands together in front of her and looked down at Harry with a condescending smile. "You aren't in the real world right now, Mr. Potter," she said. "This is a school."

"I'm aware of that," said Harry. "But what about what is waiting for us out there?"

"There is nothing waiting for you out there, dear, who would want to attack children such as yourself?"

~~~~

_A scream echoed around the room, and it took Teddie less than a second to realise that it was hers._

_When the spell was lifted, Teddie hunched forward, bracing her arms against the wooden floor and resting her head on them. Her chest ached from breathing so hard and sweat clung to the nape of her neck._

_She wasn't sure how long she had been screaming, or how longs he had been locked in the room with Avery. All she did know was that the pain had been never-ending._

" _Is she ready?"_

" _Not even close."_

_Voldemort circled Teddie as she knelt in the centre of the room. She was hunched over, her arms leaning against the hard wood floor, her hair hiding her face, and her breathing was heavy, like she had run a marathon._

_"I remember her tolerance to the torture curse four years ago," said Voldemort. "It wasn't strong then, either. However, my most trusted ally assures me that she is well protected against the Imperial Curse."_

_Avery nodded quietly; she too remembered the report from Crouch Jr on Teddie's defense lessons."_

_"There is one other reason that she's not ready," said Avery. "Why she isn't open to me."_

_"That is?" Voldemort asked._

_Avery pointed her wand at Teddie. "Something is blocking me," she said. "She wasn't aware of who she was, even after I had removed the enchantments. The magic surrounding her is strong, my lord. I have an idea on who is responsible, but from what I have gathered during our time together, there could be more than one enchantment. It seems she's been given repeated enhancements to strengthen then charms, over time that could cause a blockage."_

_"How long before she is ready?" Voldemort asked._

_Avery shook her head. "There is no telling, my Lord," she admitted. "She would need constant supervision while undoing the charms and spells. If you wish for her to be at your side, it may do us well to hold off a while longer."_

_~~~~_

"He wasn't dead!"

Harry's voice cut through Teddie's fog and pulled her out of her memory and back into the Defense classroom. She felt a hand on her wrist and looked to see Theo watching, concern on his face.

Teddie offered him a small smile, swallowed and turned back to Umbridge as she reprimanded Harry.

"As I was saying," Umbridge continued. "You have been informed that a certain Dark Wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie_."

"It is _not_ a lie!" Harry yelled. "I saw him. I fought him."

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge yelled, finally losing her cool. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office."

Teddie watched Harry from the corner of her eye. He had roughly pushed back his chair, his face screwing up in anger.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.

Professor Umbridge stared at Harry without a trace of her sickly sweet smile. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.

"It was murder," said Harry. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."

The class held its breath as they all looked between Umbridge and Harry. No one had ever heard Harry's version of events until that moment.

"Come here, Mr. Potter, dear," said Umbridge. Teddie could tell that she was trying her hardest to not unleash a torrent of anger onto Harry.

Harry kicked his chair aside and strode to the front of the class. Umbridge pulled a roll of pink parchment from her handbag, scribbled on it with her quill, and then handed it to Harry.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall," Umbridge instructed.

Harry snatched the slip and turned away. He met Teddie's gaze as he passed her desk and wrenched open the door. He stopped when he heard Teddie speak, her voice barely a whisper.

"They tortured me," Teddie said. For a few seconds it seemed that no one had heard her, but slowly people started to look in her direction.

Umbridge, too, looked towards Teddie. "What was that dear?" she asked.

Teddie took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Umbridge's gaze. "I said, they tortured me," she repeated. "Voldemort and Avery. They tortured me every day for a week, always for hours, and always to the point where I would pass out from exhaustion because of all the screaming."

The room was silent, everyone seemed to be leaning forward, listening with earnest to what Teddie had to say.

Tears pooled in her eyes, and Teddie had to force them down as she continued. "It is easy for you to say that he is not back. Easy to just sweep it under the rug, forget about it," she took a deep shuddering breath. "But it didn't happen to you. So, you're not just sweeping aside the truth, you're brushing aside victims. People who rely on you for help or protection."

"That's enough," Professor Umbridge said, her voice quiet

Teddie swallowed hard. "You're afraid," she said, still staring at Umbridge. "That is why you and the Ministry want to pretend that he's not back; why you're trying to silence the only people who know the truth, and lull the rest of the world into a false sense of security."

"I said that is enough, Miss Green," said Umbridge. "That story you've concocted may fool those you're trying to convince of your plight, but it won't work on me. You will join Mr. Potter in detention tomorrow night, do you understand me?"

Teddie glared at Umbridge, causing the older woman to lean forward on her desk and smile at the youngster.

"I said, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge."


	5. The Theories

Dinner that evening was a quiet affair.

Teddie sat at the Slytherin table eating her minced beef and onion pie, while all around her people chatted about their first day. Some people were whispering about the shouting match between Umbridge and Harry, the news had spread like wildfire around the school, but Teddie wasn't that surprised.

Other students, meanwhile, were staring at her and whispering, and she could only assume it was to do with her own confession in Defense Against the Dart Arts earlier.

"What were you thinking?" Blaise asked, breaking the silence.

Teddie looked up and found him staring at her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"What you said in Defense. Why couldn't you have just kept quiet?"

"So, what, I'm supposed to just let Umbridge and the Ministry brush aside everything that happened?"

Blaise shrugged. "If you wanted to keep a low profile this year, then you've lost every chance now," he said.

"I don't want to keep any sort of profile," said Teddie. "I want people to know what happened, not just to me, but to Harry and Cedric, too. They aren't going to know that if the Ministry keeps brushing us aside."

Daphne swallowed her potatoes. "But what about last night?" she asked. "What about what the _Daily Prophet_ has been saying?"

"About Faye?" Teddie asked.

Her friends nodded.

Teddie shrugged. "I don't associate myself with her," she said. "But what I said was the truth. Avery tortured me so that I would remember my life as Faye, but I had no life as her, at least not one that I should remember."

"What do you mean?" Theo asked.

From the corner of her eye, Teddie spotted Parkinson and Malfoy casting glances in her direction. She paused and set down her knife and fork. "I'm going to get a start on my homework," she said, standing up.

Daphne, Blaise and Theo shared a look, put down their own utensils and followed quickly after their friend.

On the way out of the Great Hall, the Slytherin quartet passed the Golden Trio. Harry stopped as Teddie passed and turned to face her.

"About what you said," he started.

"Don't worry about it," said Teddie, cutting him off and shaking her head.

Harry held tighter to her wrist. "I'm sorry," he said. "Not just for what you went through, but for getting detention."

"You're not the reason I got detention, Harry," said Teddie. "It would only be a matter of time. I stand by what I said, sure, I wish it hadn't come out the way it did, but if it makes even one more person alert to what happened last term, then it proved its worth."

Harry stared at her and then released her hand. "I'm still sorry," he said.

Before dropping her hand to her side, Teddie squeezed Harry's hand and then stepped away. "Why are you leaving dinner so early?" she asked.

"Can't handle the stares and whispers," said Harry. "You?"

Teddie shrugged. "Malfoy and Parkinson were listening in to my conversation," she explained. "They seem to think that they're my new best friends and deserve to know everything happened to me last term. I mean, you saw Parkinson step in this morning."

"Yeah, I was wondering why she did that," said Harry. "I mean, you two have never been close."

"I think their parents have told them to try and get close to me, if I honest," said Teddie. "I mean, it would their families a great deal if they were in big with Avery and Voldemort, don't you think?"

Harry considered her words. "Yeah, I suppose it would," he said. "Teddie, you should know, I saw Mr. Malfoy at the Ministry the day of my hearing."

"Harry!" Ron hissed.

Teddie glanced at the red-head and then returned her attention to Harry, her brow furrowed. "What hearing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You said you had a hearing at the Ministry," said Teddie. "What for? Surely not for what happened last year?"

A look of realization crossed Harry's face and he shook his head. "Oh no!" he said, quickly. "I was attacked by Dementors over the summer."

"What?" the four Slytherins exclaimed.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they attacked me in Little Whinging," he explained. "Me and my cousin, Dudley."

"He's the son of the Muggles you live with?" Teddie asked.

Again, Harry nodded.

"What did you do?"

It was Harry's turn to shrug. "I cast the Patronus charm, obviously," he said. "But I was reprimanded by the Ministry and called in for a Hearing. They almost expelled me – "

"But you acted in self-defense!" Daphne protested.

"They didn't seem to care," said Harry. "Umbridge was there – she's Madam Secretary to the Minister. We," he nodded at Hermione and Ron, "think she is here interfering at Hogwarts."

"She is," said Teddie. "There's no speculation about it."

Ron cocked his head to the side. "How would you know that?" he asked. "Your little Death Eater friends tell you?"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, smacking his shoulder.

Teddie rolled her eyes. "Malfoy confirmed it last night," he said. "His father must've told him, and he felt that by telling me I would accept him as a friend."

"Yeah, right," Ron muttered.

From the corner of her eye, Teddie noticed Theo clench his fist and reached over to soothe him by slipping her hand in his. She straightened up and took a step away from Harry.

"If we're going to keep talking about this then we shouldn't do it here," said Teddie. "Anyone can leave the Great Hall at any time, and besides, Dinner is ending soon."

Harry checked his watch. "We were heading back to the Gryffindor Tower," he said. "But I am sure there is an empty classroom somewhere."

"We could use the room off the Hall," said Blaise, nodding at a wooden door. "You know, the one that First Years are to stay in before the Welcome Feast."

Daphne nodded.

Harry looked to Ron and Hermione. The latter seemed happy with the suggestion, but the former was shaking his head so hard, Teddie was surprised it hadn't gone sailing across the room yet.

"You don't have to join us, Weasley," said Blaise.

Ron glared at him. "Harry, how do we know that we can trust them?" he asked. "We don't know where their loyalties lie, especially after what the _Daily Prophet_ has said about her." He nodded at Teddie.

"What is that supposed to me?" Theo hissed. He clenched Teddie's hand tightly in his grip and only released when she yelped in pain. His eyes widened and he turned quickly to her. "I'm sorry…"

Teddie shook her head and flexed her fingers. "How do we know that you can be trusted, Weasley?" she asked.

"Because I am on Dumbledore's side, obviously!" Ron said. "Are you?"

Teddie considered him. "From where I am standing, you're the enemy of my enemy," she shrugged. "So, I guess that makes you my friend."

Ron scoffed. "Friends? Us?" he shook his head. "Not a chance. I don't care what Dumbledore, or the Sorting Hat wants of us. You can't trust a Slytherin," he looked to Harry as he spoke. "Regardless of who they want to be."

Teddie rolled her eyes and turned to Harry. Behind them, inside the Great Hall, there was a clatter of chairs and raised voices. Dinner had ended.

"The choice is yours, Potter," said Blaise. "We can either part ways here or finish this conversation in private."

Harry stared at Teddie and then looked to his friends. "I trust them," he said. "Besides, Teddie needs to know."

Hermione nodded her agreement while Ron huffed in annoyance. It was clear that he didn't want to be involved with any Slytherins, not just Teddie and her friends, but he also wasn't about to leave his friends alone with them.

"Great," said Blaise, leading the way over the door. He pushed it open and the group hurried in, the door closing just as several students filed out of the Great Hall.

"What about Mason?" Theo asked turning to Teddie.

"I'll fill him in tomorrow," Teddie replied.

Ron looked like he wanted to argue but Hermione started talking before he had a chance.

"What I don't understand is what Dumbledore is playing at," she said. "I mean, why let that woman teach us? And in our O.W.L. year too!"

"We've never had a great Defense teacher, have we?" said Harry. "I mean, Lupin was the best, sure, but he didn't stick around long enough. It's like Hagrid said, the position is cursed."

Teddie cocked her head to the side. This wasn't new news, she had had this conversation before with Adrian, but to have someone else confirm it, and a teacher no less, was surprising.

"Yes, but to employ someone who is actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?" Hermione asked.

"I'm with Granger on this one," said Daphne. "I mean, if we only do Defense magic in June, that's not exactly this year, is it?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I wonder why Mo didn't warn us about this before we returned to school?" Theo wondered, looking at Teddie. "He is the Head of the Auror Department, surely he would've known about this."

"Mo Flint?" Ron asked, sharply.

Teddie nodded at him. "Yeah, Marcus' father," she confirmed.

"He's head of the Auror department?" Ron echoed. "I thought that was Barty Crouch?"

"I thought he was killed last year?"

"He was," said Harry.

Teddie furrowed her brow and then shrugged. "I don't know how it works, but Mo has been Head of the Department for as long as I can remember," she said.

"He could just be using it as a cover," said Ron, snidely.

"Excuse me?" Teddie asked, turning to his wildly. "Mo isn't someone that would hide behind a title. He's a great man!"

Ron scoffed. "Sure, a great man, for a Death Eater," he said.

Theo grabbed Teddie around the middle as she took a step towards Ron. "You don't know what you're talking about, Weasley," he said. "Why don't you just shut up and let your friends speak? They seem to know what they're talking about."

Ron glared at the pair, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"Carry on," said Daphne, stepping between Theo, Teddie, and Ron. She directed her question at Hermione and Harry, waiting for the other to speak.

"Dumbledore must have some plan in motion," said Harry. "He wouldn't let her be here otherwise."

"Unless he doesn't have a choice," said Blaise. "Remember what Umbridge said? She wants us to come and tell her if we overhear anyone speaking about You-Know-Who and Avery."

"You're saying she is here to spy on us?" Harry asked.

"Of course, she is!" said Hermione, snappily. "That much is obvious. Why else would Fudge suggest her for appointment?"

Teddie shook her head as she remembered what both Malfoy and Marcus had told her about the school. "It's not just up to Dumbledore and the Minister who gets appointed here, though," she said. "All teachers must go through the School board. They get a say in who teaches their children. I remember Marcus suggesting I tell his father about Moody – or Barty Crouch jr – last here, he said that they could go to the school board if I felt uncomfortable."

"But you didn't," said Daphne.

"No, because I was scared of causing a scene," Teddie admitted. "Just like with Quirrell."

Theo squeezed Teddie in a hug. He was aware of how much Quirrell still haunted his best friend.

"But why would the school board agree to appoint someone who is refusing to let us practice magic?" Hermione asked.

The group fell silent, each one considering the question but neither coming up with a plausible answer. Even if Ron had said something about Death Eaters, it wouldn't have fit – even Death Eaters had children at the school, would they really be willing for their own children to suffer the consequences just to get at the few that didn't align with them or Voldemort?

Blaise broke the silence by sighing. "We should get back to our Common Rooms," he said, realising how late it was. "Everyone else would have gone from the Great Hall by now. Plus, we don't want to be caught out after curfew," he looked to his friends. "You know how Snape gets."

"But you're both Prefects," said Ron, looking between Blaise and Daphne. "And what curfew? We all have the same curfew."

Teddie shook her head. "Snape has his own curfew for Slytherins," she said. "We're not allowed outside the common room after 8pm, but we also don't need to be in bed until at least 10pm because we're fifth years."

Ron's jaw dropped.

"I'm guessing by your look that McGonagall doesn't have her own set of rules for Gryffindor?" Teddie asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Okay," Teddie mumbled. "But Blaise is right, we should get going. We already have detention with Umbridge," she looked to Harry.

Harry nodded in return.

The group filed out of the room, bid goodnight, and parted ways in the Entrance Hall.


	6. The Detention with Umbridge

**Warning: This chapter contains a flashback. Flashbacks will be in italics.**

* * *

The second day of year five started like any other: Breakfast and then first lesson – Double Charms.

Today, Teddie was excited for her first lesson, she happened to excel in Charms, and found that this would've been her first chance to talking to Flitwick about a possibly taking on a teaching assistant for the next few years, already Mason had told her that being a Professor's TA would look good on any job applications in the future.

"Are you going to ask him after class?" Daphne asked, settling in beside Teddie on the charms bench. "Or during?"

"I don't know," said Teddie. "Maybe I should leave it until the weekend? I mean, we have double Transfiguration after that, I don't want to risk being late."

Daphne made a small murmur of agreement and then fell silent. First, Flitwick took the register, marking off each name as they answered, he them jumped straight into a speech that sounded like he had practiced over and over for years.

"You must remember," Flitwick squeaked. He was perched on his usual stack of books so that he could see over his desk, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have no already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

Teddie grinned as Daphne nudged her. "What?" she laughed.

"Not all of us are perfect at Charms, you know," said Daphne, shaking her head.

"Yeah, but what you lack in Charms you make up for in Transfiguration," said Teddie. "That's why we're such a good team."

"What are we?" Blaise asked, leaning over.

Teddie turned to him. "You're great at History of Magic and Theo excels in Ancient Runes," she said, smiling at them both.

Both boys seemed satisfied with the answer and leaned back in their seats. Daphne and Teddie shared a look and smothered their giggles into their hands, as Flitwick continued the lesson.

"The Summoning Charm will most definitely come up in your O.W.L.s examination," Flitwick said. "So, we shall start off with practicing it this year. After me now…"

The double lesson ended with Flitwick giving them their largest amount of homework.

Double Transfigurations started off the same as Charms – McGonagall took the register and then proceeded to tell the class about their O.W.L examinations.

"You cannot pass an O.W.L, without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L in Transfiguration if they put in the work. So, today, we are starting the Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."

Teddie blinked and glanced at Daphne. The blonde seemed to be hanging onto every word that McGonagall was talking about, but only she and Hermione seemed to understand any of it, and by the end of the lesson, they were the only two that had managed to vanish their snails completely, earning both Slytherin and Gryffindor ten House points each.

"I guess this gives me time to finish my homework for Snape," said Daphne, leading the way out of the Transfiguration classroom.

Her friends shot dirty looks at her back.

**~X~**

After lunch was the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson that everyone had seemingly been anticipating. Even though it wasn't spoken about that much in the Slytherin common room, everyone, in every house, was curious as to where Hagrid had seemingly disappeared too.

The rain from earlier had eased off a bit but left a thin sheen of slippery water on the grass, forcing the Gryffindors and Slytherins to take their time as they walked down to Hagrid's hut for their lesson.

"Anyone wonder where Hagrid is?" Daphne asked, breaking the unusual silence.

Blaise shrugged. "Not really," he said. "I mean, sure, it's unusual for him to not be at Hogwarts, he lives here all year 'round, after all. But I don't know, maybe he's taking time off?"

"There is nothing more important to Hagrid than being Care of Magical Creatures professor," said Teddie. "I remember Harry telling me two years ago, Hagrid was so ecstatic about it when Dumbledore had asked him. I wonder why Grubbily-Plank decided to come back? Didn't Dumbledore say that she wanted to spend time with her remaining limbs?"

Her friends nodded,

"If the job is that dangerous, why be so quick to come back after only two years retirement?"

The silence returned as the quartet reached Hagrid's hut. It was strange to find Grubbily-Plank standing on the doorstep, but the friends figured they had best get used to it, who knew how long Hagrid was going to be gone for.

A small group of Gryffindor students were already present, and Teddie found Harry amongst the group with his friends, Ron and Hermione. The latter two offered her a small smile, while the former merely ignored her.

In front of Hagrid's hut were two trestle tables laden with many twigs. As Teddie leaned forward to get a better look, a loud laugh caught her attention and caused her to wheel around and see Draco Malfoy approaching with his usual cronies.

"Who wants to bet he is talking about Hagrid?" said Blaise.

"No need to bet," said Theo. "We know he was."

"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank. "Let's crack on then – who can tell me what these things are called?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Teddie spotted Malfoy doing a buck-toothed imitation of Hermione as the girl raised her hand to answer the question, she glared at him as he shot her a humorous smile and winked. She shook her head and turned back to the twigs that she now noticed were moving.

"Oh!" said Daphne, nudging Teddie and pointing at the nearest trestle. Teddie's eyes widened as she spotted a pixie-like creature made entirely of wood. It had knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

"Oooo!" Parvati and Lavender gushed.

"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" Grubbly-Plan said sharply. She scattered a handful of brown rice amongst the creatures and then nodded at Hermione.

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione. "They're tree guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

Grubbly-Plank nodded. "Five points to Gryffindor. Yes, these are Bowtruckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice," answered Hermione. "But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl take another five points. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which Bowtruckles lodge, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract them. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp."

Teddie leaned closer to Daphne and lowered her voice. "I'm sure our eyes don't taste half as nice as fairy eggs," she said.

Daphne bit back a smile.

"So, if you would like to gather closer, take a few wood lice and a bowtruckle – I have enough here for one between three – you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labelled by the end of the lesson."

As Daphne picked out a bowtruckle, Teddie scooped up a handful of wood lice and returned to Theo and Blaise. Although Grubbly-Plank had said they needed to work in groups of three, they had no desire to split up, and set down on the ground near Hagrid's hut.

Daphne held the bowtruckle in her hand, not too tight that she hurt the creature, and not to slack so that it could run away.

Settling down on her stomach, Teddie placed two wood lice on the floor between her friends and the bowtruckle scrambled out of Daphne's hands to scoop them up.

The hour lesson passed quickly, and by the end of it Teddie had completed her sketch. She was in the process of labelling the body parts when Grubbly-Plank called for everyone to return their Bowtruckles and hand in their sketches next lesson.

Rolling up her image, Teddie followed her friends back up to the castle while the Gryffindors hurried off for Herbology.

**~X~**

At five o'clock, Teddie found herself standing outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Her heartbeat wildly in her chest and she felt like she would throw up. Her hands gripped the straps of her backpack until her knuckles turned white, and she was already contemplating turning and running back to the Slytherin common room when Harry arrived behind her.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, gently touching her shoulder.

Teddie let out a startled shriek and turned to face him, her eyes wide and her breathing coming in rapid gasps.

"It's okay," Harry said, gently. "You're okay. I'm sorry…"

Tears appeared in Teddie's eyes and she buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she whispered, dragging her hands down her cheeks and brushing aside the smudges that had appeared due to her tears.

"You don't have to be sorry," said Harry, shaking his head. "This was the room you were attacked in and abducted from. Do you want me to cover for you with Umbridge? Surely she can't force you to stay here if it's going to be a problem."

"Actually, Mr. Potter, I can," said a sickly-sweet voice.

Teddie and Harry looked up to see Professor Umbridge standing in the doorway to her office.

"If Miss Green hadn't wanted to visit this room outside of school hours, she wouldn't sprout her nonsense lies in my classroom," Umbridge said. "Now, inside, both of you!"

She turned and walked briskly back to her seat.

Harry took Teddie's hand and squeezed it as they both followed. Over the years the office had houses many different things, each one pertaining to the current teacher – Lupin had housed many fascinating dark creatures in cages and tanks. Last year it held various dark objects, and when Lockhart had been there it had been covered in images of himself – now it was plastered in pink lace, several vases of flowers, and the walls were full of china plates with different breeds of cats, all of which watched the two students closely.

"Well, sit down," said Umbridge.

Two desks had been set up in front of her desk. They were two inches form one another, and each one had a single piece of blank parchment on the surface.

"Er – Professor Umbridge? Er – before we start, I-I wanted to ask you a… a favour?" Harry stammered.

Teddie glanced at him as she sat down.

Umbridge narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, yes?" she asked.

"Well, I'm… I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at try-outs for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was – was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it – do it another night… instead…"

Teddie's eyes widened and she looked between her friend and Professor. She knew the answer before Harry had even finished speaking, but she was still curious to whether Umbridge would allow him this one-off chance.

"Oh, no," said Umbridge, smiling. "Oh no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday, same as Miss Green, and you will take your punishments as planned."

Teddie glanced at Harry and offered him a small, sympathetic smile as Umbridge continued. Teasing Harry about having to miss out on something that was clearly so important to him.

Harry grit his teeth and opened his mouth to argue but stopped as he felt a small hand slid into his. He looked down and saw Teddie leaning over, her fingers wrapping around his and squeezing. He met her gaze, and his anger ebbed away.

If he had to miss practice, at least he would still be with friendly company, even if they were forced to share it with the one woman who would see them expelled for telling the truth.

Taking a deep breath, Harry sat down in the table next to Teddie, her hand still held tightly in his own.

"Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me," said Umbridge looking between the pair. "You won't need your own quills," she added as both Harry and Teddie reached for their book bags. "No, I have two rather special quills of my own that I would like you to use. Here you are,"

She removed two red-feathered quills from her handbag and set one each on the desk before the two students.

"Mr. Potter, I want you to write ' _I must not tell lies_ ,'," said Umbridge, staring at Harry.

"How many times?" Harry asked, biting back a sigh.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in." Umbridge smiled sweetly and turned to Teddie. "As for you, Miss Green, I would like you to write " _I will not make up stories_."

Teddie swallowed and picked up the quill. She refused to look at Umbridge, not wanting to show the woman the tears in her eyes. What she had revealed yesterday was not a lie, she had been tortured, and it still haunted her dreams every night – even Parkinson had overheard her whimpering about it on their first night.

"You haven't given us any ink," said Harry as Umbridge turned away.

"Oh, you won't need any ink," Umbridge said over her shoulder.

Teddie furrowed her brow and glanced at Harry. He shrugged in confusion and looked back at the quill, Teddie did the same, trying her best to find a place for where ink could be stored inside the quill.

Shaking her head, Teddie pressed the quill to the parchment and moved it downwards. She glanced sideways as Harry gasped, and saw the words 'I must not tell lies' glistening in a sort of red ink.

"What?" Teddie whispered, looking back at her own parchment. She scratched out the rest of her words, ignoring the pang of pain her hand, and watched as each word came out in the same red ink as Harry's, only… it didn't look like ink.

_"There are many different quills," said Ursula. "Rita Skeeter uses what we all call a Quick-Quotes-Quill, a mouthful, I know, but it allows her, as a journalist, to write in shorthand. She translates it later when it comes to writing her full article."_

_"The quill must be charmed to not take the specific notes then," said Mason. "None of Skeeter's articles made any sense this year. In all her articles about Harry she called him twelve, when he's fourteen, and the story was all false. Wasn't it, Ted?"_

_"Yes, well, Skeeter isn't known for telling the truth," said Ursula._

_Teddie blinked and looked up. "You said there are many different quills. What do you mean?" she asked. "What other quills are there? Do they all have different charms on them?"_

_Ursula smiled at the passion in Teddie's voice when she spoke about Charms. "Of course, yes," she said. "Do you remember the quills you use in your exams? They have no-cheating charms cast on them; if you are caught cheating while using them, they will not dispense ink for you to write with."_

_"That happened to Gemma Reynolds in our last lot of exams," said Mason. "She was caught cheating, trying to copy off a slip of parchment she had snuck into the hall, and the quill refused to pick up any ink from her bottle."_

_"Serves her right," said Ursula. "Silly girl. There are also some quills that have a charm on them that uses other forms of liquid. They're rather crude if you ask me, but they're Ministry approved, so…" she shrugged._

_Teddie cocked her head to the side. "What are they called?" she asked._

_"Blood Quills."_

Teddie gasped and looked down at her hand. The stabbing pain she could feel was in fact small pin scratches in her skin, she shakingly pressed the tip of her quill to her parchment again and dragged it downwards, wincing as she watched a silver of hot pink slashed through her skin, as if an invisible scalpel was being pressed against her.

The words 'I will not – 'glared back at her.

Looking up, Teddie met Umbridge's gaze. "Yes?" she asked.

"Nothing," whispered Teddie, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and looked back at her parchment, her gaze glancing at her hand as she scribbled out the rest of her words. She breathed in through her nose, trying her hardest to ignore the pain in her hand.

As they worked in near-enough silence, Harry and Teddie didn't look at one another. Teddie had already figured out what was so special about the quill Umbridge had given her – the colour of the feather should've given her an indication when Umbridge had first presented it – but she had never thought a teacher would stoop to such crude ways to punish a student.

Darkness fell outside the window, and still Teddie and Harry worried in silence. Umbridge was watching them both closely, waiting for one of them to show a sign of weakness, but they were both much to stubborn to show her anything of the sort. They had faced a lot worse than a Blood Quill, and while it hurt now, it wouldn't hurt forever.

"Stop," said Umbridge, breaking the silence. "Come here, Mr. Potter," she motioned for him to approach her desk.

Teddie watched as Harry stood and stepped closer. She could see the faint markings of 'I must not tell lies' etched into the back of his hand and had to swallow the sicky feeling rising in her throat.

"It seems that I have not made much of an impression," said Umbridge, examining Harry's hand. "We'll just have to try again tomorrow. You may go. Miss Green," she motioned to Teddie.

Teddie walked around the outside of her desk as Harry walked back to his own and picked up his backpack, he shouldered it and then turned to wait for Teddie.

"You have been dismissed, Mr. Potter," said Umbridge, staring at him.

"But – "Harry started, staring at Teddie. He didn't want to leave her alone in the Defence classroom, especially not after what had happened last year.

"You have been dismissed," Umbridge repeated, a little more forcibly that the last.

Swallowing her fear, Teddie turned and nodded at Harry. "Goodnight," she whispered.

Harry grit his teeth and left the classroom.

**~X~**

When Teddie returned to the Slytherin common room after her detention, she found her friends waiting for her by the fire. It was almost empty, a few seventh-year stragglers lingered, finishing up homework, but they paid no attention to Teddie as she entered.

Teddie pulled her the sleeve of her robe down over her hand as she approached the fireplace, tossed her bag onto the floor, and flopped down on the leather sofa beside Theo.

"Are you okay?" Blaise asked, eying her curiously. "You look like you've been crying."

"I'm fine," said Teddie, her voice thick with emotion. She could've broken down there and then and told them everything – the panic attack before detention, the lines, the blood quill, but she chose not to. What did it matter, anyway? There was nothing they could do about it.

Before she climbed into bed that night, Teddie stood in the girls' bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Was this what Avery had had in mind when she had spoken about a "delectable surprise" all those weeks ago? Did she plan on Teddie being tortured further when she returned to school?

With a sigh, Teddie looked down at her hand. She could see the faint words of her lines etched into her skin, they weren't prominent to anyone's eyes but her own, mainly because no one knew what she had written in detention, except Harry, and no one, but Harry knew that's he had used a Blood Quill.

Gritting her teeth, Teddie run water from the cold tap and stuck her hand beneath it.


	7. The Declaration

**I feel that this chapter has been anticipated since Third year. I hope you enjoy it.**

**This chapter contains flashbacks.**

* * *

Detention continued the night after, and Teddie sat in complete silence with Harry and Umbridge, the only sound was the scratching of two quills. The pain in Teddie's hand continued to get worse with each word she wrote, but she refused to let Umbridge have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

After being dismissed the first night, Harry had stuck around outside the Defense classroom after, waiting for Teddie. He always waited down the hall a bit, as it seemed if Umbridge thought he was outside, she would keep Teddie back longer.

That night, when Teddie left the office, she smiled weakly at Harry and fell into step beside him as they walked back to the first available staircase that would take Teddie down to the Entrance Hall and him up to the seventh floor.

"How's your hand?" Harry asked.

Teddie showed him the words cut into her skin. "How's yours?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "How are you healing it?" he asked.

"I run it under cold water every night before bed," said Teddie. "It always used to work when I fell down while growing up. Sometimes, someone in the street would use antiseptic spray or drops and then cover it with a plaster, but I don't really have those readily available."

"Have you told your friends?" Harry asked.

"Have you?"

He laughed and Teddie smiled.

They bid one another goodnight, and headed back to their respective Common Rooms

Just like the first night, Theo, Daphne, and Blaise were still awake when Teddie reached the Common Room. Instinctively, Teddie pulled her sleeve down to cover her hand and curled up beside Theo on the couch.

"How did it go tonight?" Blaise asked.

Teddie shrugged. "Did my lines, talked to Harry and then came back here," she answered. "How's the homework going?"

"We have plotted a few points for you to follow in the classes we share," said Daphne, sliding a few pieces of parchment across the coffee table. "It should get you part way through your essays, especially Potions and Transfiguration."

Teddie smiled and looked over the notes.

"I started on our Ancient Runes," said Theo. "You can just add your part beneath and we'll get the rest of Hermione tomorrow."

Teddie nodded.

"I finished labelling your Care of Magical Creatures sketch, too," said Blaise, happily passing back the picture. "You never mentioned being able to draw before."

Teddie blushed. "Yeah, if you call stick figures 'drawing'," she laughed.

"Well, it's a good thing we only had to draw a stick figure this time," Daphne teased.

They laughed quietly.

Teddie sighed and pulled her Potions book out of her bag and took a notebook and quill from her pencil case. "I'm going to start on my Potions essay, you guys can go to bed, if you like," she said. She mostly wanted to be alone so that they wouldn't see the scars on the back of her hand, given they would be hard to hide while writing.

"I still got some Transfiguration to finish," said Daphne. "I'll stay up, if you don't mind?"

Teddie hesitated. If she said she did mind then her friends would know something was wrong, but she also didn't want them to see her hand, she had convinced herself that they couldn't do anything to heal her, so why worry them by letting them see it?

"Ted?" Blaise asked.

"Sorry," said Teddie, looking up. She shook her head. "No. No, of course I don't mind. I, uh, I just have to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

She left, leaving her friends to share a look of concern and confusion.

**~X~**

Detention with Umbridge lasted up until Friday evening, by the end of which Teddie was ready to see the back of the Defense classroom until her next lesson with the old toad. Silently, she walked the path back to the common room, her hand aching and her head spinning as she thought back on the events that had happened.

She and Harry had arrived for detention at the same time. They didn't have much to say to one another and only offered small, brief smiles. He did tell her that Ron had found out about his hand, but she remained silent seeing as she still refused to tell her friends.

After that, the detention went as it normally did. They sat in silence, Umbridge perched on the edge of her desk before the two students, them at their desks scribbling out lines that she believed they deserved, it wasn't until Umbridge examined Harry's hand did anything peculiar happen.

_Teddie looked up, startled, as Harry wrenched his hand out of Umbridge's grip. She furrowed her brow, watching the pair of them stare at one another for what felt like forever, before Umbridge grinned._

" _Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?" Umbridge said, softly._

_Harry didn't say anything. His chest rose and fell heavily, and the look of panic on his face was enough to make Teddie concerned about what he was thinking._

" _Well, I think I've made my point, Mr. Potter. You may go."_

_Teddie watched Harry stride out of the class, and then looked up as Umbridge's shadow fell over her. "Well, Miss Green, shall we check if you've learned your lesson?" she asked, holding out her hand._

Only Daphne was awake when Teddie returned to the common room. She was scratching away at her parchment when Teddie sat opposite her, and only looked up when Teddie hissed.

"Is it your hand?" Daphne asked.

Teddie glanced down at her sleeve and then looked back at her friend. "What do you mean?" she asked, reaching over to pull the sleeve down.

"Come off it, Ted," said Daphne, going back to her essay. "We've all noticed how you keep your hand hidden when you return, and, after you went to bed last night, I went into the bathroom."

Teddie swallowed. She was always careful in cleaning up any trace of smeared blood from the wash basin and made sure to dispose of any paper towels so no one would know she was bleeding.

"Did you know there is a spell you can use that traces even a speck of blood?" Daphne asked. "My mum used to use it on me and Astoria when we were growing up, she used it once on my dad, too. He tried to hide that he had been injured while on a case, and she was not happy."

Teddie licked her lips.

"What is that woman making you do, Teddie?" Daphne asked, meeting her friends gaze.

"Lines," Teddie replied.

"So why are you bleeding?"

Teddie shook her head and reached for her bookbag, "It doesn't matter," she mumbled.

"It does matter, Teddie!" Daphne exclaimed. She reached across the table, seized Teddie's arm and pulled back the sleeve, revealing the deep cuts in the back of her hand. "This is torture!"

Teddie wrenched her arm back. "I said it was nothing!" she protested.

Daphne stared at her friend. "She's making you use a blood quill," she said. "It's the only thing that can cause this kind of damage. If you told a Professor or even the Headmaster, she'd be out of here by tomorrow."

"We both know that's not true," Teddie whispered. "Besides, I don't want to cause a scene and give her the satisfaction of knowing she has gotten to me."

Daphne cocked her head to the side. "Are you serious right now?" she asked. "Since when did you let your pride dictate what you do? This isn't like Quirrell's unhealthy obsession with you, or Moody's for that matter. If this were anyone else, you'd been telling them to go to Snape."

Teddie grimaced. She couldn't go to Snape. She still wasn't talking to him, and she didn't want their first talk in weeks to be her complaining about another teacher.

"Teddie, are you listening to me?" Daphne asked.

"I'm fine, Daphne," said Teddie. "I don't need to cause a scene about this, okay? I'll deal with it. Besides, tonight was the last of my detentions. I don't need to see her again."

Daphne stared at Teddie and then sighed. "Then you should know that Theo is upset with you," she said. "I mean, he's upset in general, but he's more upset that you've kept this a secret from us, him, for almost a week."

"Wait, what?" Teddie asked, cocking her head to the side. "I get why he is upset with me, but what else has happened?"

"Montague called a team meeting tonight," said Daphne. "They have tryouts next weekend."

Teddie felt her stomach sink. "Tryouts? I thought only Chaser positions were needed to be filled?" she asked.

"Nope. Montague, it seems, is doing a full team reboot," said Daphne. "All positions are available."

"All positions?" Teddie yelped.

Daphne nodded.

Teddie sighed and glanced at her watch.

"He's probably asleep," said Daphne.

Teddie nodded, absentmindedly. "I can't focus now," she said, tossing her belongings back into her bag. "I'm going to bed. Are you coming?"

"I'm almost done," said Daphne. "You go on. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

**~X~**

When Teddie awoke the next morning, she noticed two things – one, her pillow was moving, and two, it was also breathing. She froze, her eyes the only things moving as she scanned the still dark room for any signs of where she was.

Then, she remembered…

" _What are you doing here?" Theo whispered, sitting up as Teddie sat on the bottom of his bed. He pulled the curtains closed around them and cast the Muffliato charm to prevent them from being overheard._

_Teddie reached forward and wound her arms around him. Instinctively, Theo pulled her to him and hugged her tightly._

" _Daphne confronted you, then, huh?" Theo asked._

_Teddie nodded._

" _You're our best friend, Ted," said Theo. "Did you honestly think you could keep it from us indefinitely?"_

_Teddie didn't reply. She kept looking down, sliding her fingers around the buttons of his pajamas._

" _Why didn't you say anything?"_

_Teddie shrugged._

" _You're going to have to do better than that."_

_Finally meeting his gaze, Teddie sighed. "I'm sorry," she whispered._

_Theo swallowed as he stared at her through the darkness. He couldn't make out any of her features, but he didn't need to. He knew what she looked like; had done since the minute he had set eyes on her on the Platform at Kings Cross Station four years ago._

_Her small face framed down to her chin with long red hair, her green eyes that had hints of brown in the irises. How soft her skin was when she held his hand in comfort or support, the way her hair smelled when she lay against his shoulder._

_She was, to him, perfect, and, despite what people thought, she was his. His best friend, his first confidant, his first love. His everything._

_Teddie shifted in Theo's lap and set herself back on the bottom of his bed. "Daphne told me about Montague," she said._

" _Oh," said Theo, looking down. He had been doing his best to not think about that. He didn't want to consider the possibility that he could lose his position as Slytherin seeker, but Montague was captain, and he we well within his right to pick a new candidate._

" _Are you nervous that Malfoy will try and buy the position again?"_

_Theo shrugged in the darkness. "We don't know what Montague will do," he said. "Marcus said no to Malfoy because, in his words, I was the better player."_

" _And you'll be the better player this time," said Teddie. "Malfoy plays dirty, we all know that."_

" _Yeah, but, what if…" Theo cut off._

_Teddie sighed. "What if you do get the position this time before of me?" she asked._

_Theo felt tears prick his eyes. He hadn't wanted to say it, but he would've been lying if he had said he wasn't thinking it. Slytherin had once believed that Marcus had given him the Seeker position because he was best friends with Teddie, would they really let him keep it if it meant Teddie being on their side?_

_He wanted to say no, but he couldn't. It sounded like something a Slytherin would do, and now that the truth was out, they weren't completely sure who was on Teddie's side for her, and who was only there because of her heritage._

Teddie wasn't sure what had happened after the Quidditch conversation, she barely remembered falling asleep. Raising her head, she smiled as Theo's face loomed into view. He was still asleep, his dirty blonde hair sweeping into his eyes. The same eyes that she had become used to seeing when she was upset, scared, or just needed a bit of reassurance.

Theo had been her first friend at Hogwarts. She could still remember meeting him and his mother at Kings Cross Station, them helping her onto the platform. At the time, Theo had been rather distant, and she couldn't blame him. She wasn't everyone's cup of tea, she still wasn't, but at eleven years old she was loud and always on the move.

Not that much had changed – well, except for the loudness – she was still on the move, and her opinionated nature had just gotten worse over the course of her time in the Wizarding world, she was still willing to stand up for the underdog, and for herself. Speaking out against people and injustices that she believed were wrong.

But the one thing that hadn't changed was him. Theo. Her first friend, her best friend. Next to Mason, of course, Theo was the only thing that she cared more about in the world. She had taken Theo into her life, into her home, she had promised herself that, if there was one thing that she could change in the wizarding world, it was to give the boy who had befriended her a happy life.

She had just never expected him to change her life in return.

Over the years, Teddie had had many feelings for people – Daphne, Blaise, Astoria, Adrian and Derrick had become like siblings to her. She'd gone from being an older sister, to also being a younger sister. Then, there was Marcus, at first she had harbored deep feelings for him, even to the point where she considered him as a potential romantic partner, but their friendship had dwindled to a more platonic one, especially when Marcus' mother considered Teddie her unofficial adopted daughter.

But Theo had always been her number one. He had always been with her. Always in her head, and forever in her heart. Their friendship had grown exceptionally over the last five years, they had become closer than best friends, and while Teddie had been afraid to admit it before, she wasn't now.

She loved Theo. Loved him as more than a friend, more than a brother. She loved him as someone she could imagine spending the rest of her life with, someone she could build a life with. She wasn't sure if he felt the same, and she wasn't about to force him to love her if he didn't, she was simply happy to have him in her life.

Teddie cast her eyes away as Theo shifted beneath her. He groaned and his eyes open. He looked down and smiled briefly, his arms circling Teddie and drawing her to him.

"Good morning," Theo said.

Teddie smiled and looked back up. "Good morning," she said. "What time is it?"

Theo shook his head and checked his watch. His eyes widening as he realised it was already past nine. "Shit," he swore.

Thankfully, it was a Saturday, but they now had the problem of Teddie getting out of the dormitory if the others were awake.

"Maybe they've already gone to breakfast?" Teddie suggested, reaching for the curtains.

Theo stopped her, "Crabbe and Goyle usually lay in," he said. "Malfoy and Blaise have probably gone, but I'm not 100%."

"Then what do we do?" Teddie asked. "I can't stay in here indefinitely."

"Let me check," said Theo, sliding open the curtains on the left side of the bed and climbing out. He was gone less than a second when the curtains on the right were pulled open.

The dormitory was empty – well, sort of. Crabbe and Goyle's curtains were still pulled closed and Teddie could hear them snoring from behind the emerald lace, Blaise's bed was empty, and so was Malfoy's.

"Malfoy's just gone into the bathroom," said Theo. "If you go now, he won't see you."

Teddie nodded, kissed Theo's cheek and then dashed out of the room.


	8. The High Inquisitor

**Once again, this chapter contains a flashback.**

* * *

"Here," said Mason, setting a bowl of green liquid in front of Teddie. They were in the library, catching up on homework.

Teddie eyed the concoction carefully. "What is it?" she asked.

"Essence of Dittany," said Astoria. "It will heal your hand."

Teddie whipped her head around to look at Daphne, her jaw opened in shocked surprise. "You told them?!" she exclaimed.

"Shh!" someone hissed from behind a bookcase.

Teddie rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow at Daphne. "Well?" she asked.

"What? He's your brother," said Daphne. "I thought you would've at least told him, by any account."

Teddie grumbled and pulled back her sleeve. She dipped her fingers into the bowl and submerged her hand, allowing the cool liquid to wash over the lines on the back. There was a little stab of pain, but nothing too serious.

"Just so you know, I have told Mum and Dad, too," said Mason.

"What? Why?!" Teddie asked.

"Because Daphne said you wouldn't," answered Mason.

Again, Teddie looked at Daphne.

Daphne shrugged. "If you won't take care of yourself then it is down to us," she said. "Just be thankful we didn't go to Professor Snape or Dumbledore."

"No, but my parents now will!" Teddie moaned.

"Good," Daphne argued. "At least someone will be willing to call her out on her actions. You'd think for someone who spent the first week of her summer being tortured would want to protect others from the same fate."

Blaise nudged Daphne and nodded at Teddie. The young redhead was sat, her eyes narrowed at her best girlfriend.

"Oh Merlin," Daphne muttered, realising what she had said. "Teddie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Forget it," said Teddie, looking back at her essay. She removed her hand from the dittany extract and, using her free hand, wiped away the excess liquid. It now looked like she'd never experienced detention at all.

Mason waved his wand and cleared away the bowl and silence fell around the table, broken only by the scratching of quills and the occasional turn of a page.

Daphne shared a look with Blaise and Theo, as Teddie avoided eye-contact with them all. She was more focused on her parchment and was scribbling away furiously.

The group worked until the Library was due to close, and only stopped when the librarian, Madam Pince came over and ushered them out.

Again, Daphne tried to talk to Teddie, but she got nothing but silence in return. She really hadn't meant her words, but her mother had always warned her to be careful with what and how she said things.

" _Words cannot be taken back once they have been said, Daphne, you will do well to remember that"_ Darla had warned. " _You may not mean it, but there are consequences to every action_."

As they parted ways with Mason and Astoria, the Slytherin quartet returned to their common room and found Professor Snape sitting in his armchair beside the fire. It was a most peculiar sight, given that Snape never joined his students in the common room unless there was something, he needed them to know, or it was the start of term.

He looked up as they entered and met Teddie's gaze. "Miss Green," he said, addressing her as he stood. "Your presence is needed in my office. Immediately."

Teddie bit back a sigh and glanced at her friends. She passed them her book bag and followed Snape out of the common room and heard a faint whisper as the door swung shut in her wake.

**~X~**

Mo Flint, head of the Auror department at the Ministry of Magic, and father to one of Teddie's best and oldest friends. He rarely had any reason to come to Hogwarts, but after hearing news at the Ministry that morning, he deemed it necessary to inform one of his charges that something was happening.

Teddie Green was, without a doubt, one of the more important people in his life. Not only was she the friend of his only son, but she was a great deal of importance to his wife, and, although he wouldn't admit it out loud, himself, too.

When Marcus had come home for Christmas in his fifth year and told him and Ursula about the eleven-year-old Muggleborn that had been sorted into Slytherin, Mo knew it would only be a matter of time before the girl was integrated into his family life somehow. Marcus had seemed determined to get to know Teddie, to help her if needed.

So, when he had heard from the Minister about how the Ministry had appointed Undersecretary, Delores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, Mo feared that Teddie would be on the receiving end of her infamous temper – naturally, he had been right. He had received word from Severus that Teddie had already been in trouble with Umbridge and received a weeks' worth of detention for her efforts.

"Mr. Flint, what are you doing here?" Teddie asked, entering the Potions professor's study. She looked relatively surprised to see him, and he couldn't blame her.

"Come now, Teddie, you know better," said Mo. "Mr. Flint is my father, and he's been dead for many years."

Teddie bit her lower lip. "Sorry. Force of habit," she said.

Mo nodded. "As for why I am here," he continued. "I received word that you have gotten into a spot of trouble with your new Professor," he said, glancing at her hand.

Despite the scars being healed, Teddie pulled her sleeve down to hide her hand. "It's nothing," she said.

"Come now, Teddie, we both knew a punishment must be worthy of its crime," said Mo. "If it weren't, I would be out of a job."

Teddie sighed. "I spoke out of turn," she said, shaking her head. "I let my emotions get the better of me, and I sunk to the level that Professor Umbridge had set for me. I was warned to not mention what had happened over the summer, and I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologise to me, Teddie," said Mo.

Teddie remained silent.

"Your detentions ended Friday night; I believe?" Mo asked.

Teddie nodded.

"But your hand has healed?"

"Mason gave me Essence of Dittany earlier," said Teddie.

Mo made a small noise in the back of his throat. "May I ask what she made you write?" he inquired.

Teddie swallowed. "I will not make up stories," she answered. "I told her about what happened to me at the beginning of the summer. About being tortured, and she accused me of lying."

"I thought as much," said Mo, nodding. "If you remember, after you were rescued – "

Teddie scoffed but held her tongue.

"- and brought to us, I asked you a few questions to get your story?" Mo continued. "Do you remember what you told me?"

Teddie nodded.

_"We need to talk about what happened."_

_Teddie sighed heavily and then looked up at Mo Flint. She was sitting opposite him in his study at Flint Manor. "I've told you everything," she said. "Everything that I saw, everything that I heard. What more is there to say?"_

_Mo leaned forward on his desk. "We just need to go over it one more time," he said. "I know it's hard, but we have to be sure that what you have already told me is real."_

_"You think I'm lying?"_

_"No, of course not," said Mo, shaking his head. "But the Minister is having a tough time believing that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned, and I just want to be sure that your recount of Avery Sutherland is consistent. If Avery has surfaced, then that means the Dark Lord isn't as defeated as everyone thinks."_

_Teddie looked down at her hands. "There was a week until the end of term. I had just finished my fourth-year exams and was heading down to the final task with the others when Professor Moody stopped me at the doors. He said that Professor Flitwick was looking for me, wanted to speak to me about my Charms exam." She took a deep breath. "I was wary because of what happened to me in first year, so Professor Moody said that he wouldn't escort me up, that I could go alone..."_

_Mo sat back in his seat, listening to Teddie as she recounted her story again. He had already listened to her four times in the last two weeks, but the Minister kept denying his request for a meeting to discuss what had happened to the young teen. Not once, in the last two weeks, had Teddie's story altered or changed, even the minor details had remained consistent, and now was no different._

_"... it felt like a ripple. It started at the top of my head and spread all over my body, right down to the tips of my fingers and toes," continued Teddie. "When I looked into the mirror, I saw someone staring back. It wasn't me, but Avery said that was. That this was the real me."_

_"Did she give a name?"_

_"Faye Sutherland," Teddie answered. "Avery said that her name - my name - was Faye Sutherland." She hesitated, her eyes glancing up and then back down. Her hands started to shake, and she gripped them tightly inside one another._

_Mo cocked his head to the side. "It's alright, Teddie," he said, softly._

_Teddie shook her head. "It's not okay," she whispered. "Nothing that came after is okay."_

_"What happened after?" Mo pushed, gently._

_Teddie met his gaze. "Avery said that Faye was the daughter of the Dark Lord. That I'm -" she cut off, burying her head in her hands as tears slid down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly as Mo sat in his seat, stunned. This one minor detail was the only difference to the story that Teddie had given him already, and if it were true, then there was no way he could go to the Ministry with it._

"I told you the truth."

"I know you did," said Mo. "I took all that information to the Minister, but he refused to listen. He and the Madam Undersecretary refused to accept that what you were saying was true. I tried to explain this to you, but I'm ashamed to say that I didn't wait until you were in a more stable condition."

He heaved a heavy sigh.

"The potions that the Healers filled you with healed you," said Mo, happily. "But it didn't do much to heal your mind. You were so upset, confused, scared, and rightly so, but they would not allow you to accept that no one else was going to listen to you, after a while I had to stop trying to get you to understand and just let you learn for yourself. I am sorry for that, Teddie, it did nothing to prepare you for this year."

Teddie cocked her head to the side. "It's your fault," she said, after a few careful seconds. "I probably would've started even if you had warned me. I mean, it's who I am, after all. I'm the hothead that leaps before looking and speaks without thinking. It's why my friends also think I should've been a Gryffindor."

Mo cracked a smile. Marcus had always said about Teddie's Gryffindor tendances.

"While we're on the subject of Professor Umbridge," said Teddie. "Can I ask _you_ something?"

"Of course," said Mo.

Teddie took a deep breath. Even just _thinking_ about her first lesson with Umbridge brought up unwanted memories and feelings. The feelings of being victimized was the strongest of all, and while she was aware that she had brought it on herself by divulging what had happened to her, Teddie still couldn't help but blame Umbridge for it, either.

"What is her deal?" Teddie asked. "She's not letting us use magic at all. All we do is read from the textbook lesson after lesson, and our homework is to write a summary on the chapter."

"That is because the Ministry doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Combat?" Teddie echoed. "What, do you think Dumbledore is amassing a wizard army of students, or something?"

Mo nodded.

Teddie scoffed. "I was right," she muttered. "When I told Umbridge that she and the Ministry were afraid, I was right. They are afraid, just not of what I thought – they aren't afraid of Voldemort, they're afraid of Dumbledore."

Again, Mo nodded.

"Fudge is under the impression that Dumbledore will stop at nothing to take the Ministry for himself and appoint himself Minister for Magic."'

"Oh, good grief," said Teddie, rolling her eyes.

"There is something else," said Mo. "I have a friend who works in at the _Daily Prophet_."

Teddie perked up. The _Daily Prophet_ had been the bane of her existence since someone, she believed it to be Avery, had leaked about her being Faye Sutherland, and turned her life at Hogwarts upside down.

"He hasn't been able to tell me much about what is being printed, but they're still trying to figure out who printed about you being Faye," said Mo, "and he has warned me there is another story being prepped for tomorrow morning's edition. He says it's not good."

Teddie furrowed her brow. "But… that could be anything," she said.

"He couldn't tell me much, it breaks confidentiality, but it does pertain to what you're dealing with here at Hogwarts," said Mo. "Just, keep your head down, Teddie, please. I know it's hard. I know you want to protect your friends from injustices, but maybe this isn't the year where you should be protesting at the top of your lungs."

Teddie opened her mouth to argue.

"I know, what happened to you, Harry, and Cedric was a terrible thing, but you aren't going to be much help to anyone if you keep getting on Umbridge's bad said," said Mo. "Promise me. Promise me that you will keep your head down, at least until we can figure things out."

Teddie considered him for a long moment, and then heaved a sigh. "I can't promise that I will keep my head down and be quiet," she said. "But I can try."

Mo clapped her on the shoulder and nodded. "I guess that is better than nothing," he said.

Teddie smiled, lightly.

"Good luck, Teddie, I hope we'll see you for Christmas," said Mo. "Severus," he added to the Potions master, before sweeping to the fireplace, tossing in a handful of gray powder and then disappearing in a blast of green flames, after shouting out the address of his home in London.

Teddie stared at the fireplace for a second longer. She could feel Snape's gaze on her head but didn't dare look at him.

**~X~**

"Is anyone expecting the _Daily Prophet_ this morning?" Blaise asked, settling down into his usual seat at the Slytherin table.

Teddie shook her head. She had never taken a subscription out with the Wizarding paper, always depending on getting her news from her friends.

"Maybe someone will send us a copy?" Daphne suggested. "Mum usually sends me things she thinks I might find helpful or useful."

"Or you can just read with us," said Parkinson as she joined them. "My mum works at the _Daily Prophet_ , she sent me a copy before it hit the papers." She pulled a folded-up paper from inside her robes and handed it across the table. "Go ahead, Faye, take a look."

Teddie eyed the girl curiously and then took the paper from her. "Thanks," she said, careful not to sound overly friendly.

Unfurling the paper, Teddie laid it out on the table between her and her friends and looked down at the printed words. Her eyes widening as she took in the large, black, block letters at the top of the page.

**MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL**

**REFORM**

**DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER "HIGH INQUISITOR"**

"High what now?" Daphne asked,

Teddie shook her head and placed her finger against the start of the article. "In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

" _The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time," said Junior Assistant to the Minster, Percy Weasley. "He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve."_

" _This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the Wizarding school. As recently as August 30_ _th_ _Educational Decree Twenty-Two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person."_

"What?!" Daphne cried. "That doesn't sound good."

"None of this sounds good," said Blaise.

Teddie swallowed and carried on reading. _"'That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success – '"_

"Are we even talking about the same person?" Theo asked.

"Percy always was an ambitious one," said Teddie. "Maybe he thinks he'll climb the Ministry ranks faster if he praises them in the papers?"

"He's a prat," said Blaise. "I wonder if Sierra shares his views?"

Teddie shrugged. _"- revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts. It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalized with the passing of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three, which creates the position of 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor.' This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the 'falling standards' at Hogwarts. The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch."_

"Oh boy," Daphne muttered.

" _Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post, and we are delighted to say that she has accepted. I feel much easier in my mind now that I know that Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evalu_ – hey!" Teddie looked up as Malfoy reached over and snatched the paper out from under her nose.

"We were reading that!" Blaise said.

"Come on, you surely don't believe everything the _Daily Prophet_ says, do you?" Malfoy asked, folding it up and stuffing the paper into his back.

Teddie narrowed her eyes. She was about to say something when Marlene sat down beside them.

"Since when does your father have anyone's children, including his own, best interests at heart, Malfoy?" Marlene asked, helping herself to some toast and strawberry jam. "I mean, isn't that what he said when he was interviewed for the _Daily Prophet_?"

Malfoy's already pale faced grew whiter and he narrowed his eyes at Marlene. "I don't know what you're talking about, Wetherspoons," he said. "Your troublesome mother making trouble again, I assume? She's still sore over the fact that my father chose my mother over her, huh?"

Teddie's eyes widened as she looked to Marlene. "Really? You could've been Marlene Malfoy?" she asked.

"Unfortunately," said Marlene. "Thank Merlin my mother had sense to get the hell out of the relationship she shared with Lucius before it could go any further."

Malfoy snorted. "That's not how father tells it," he said. "Your mother was obsessed with him. To the point that she considered a Love Potion to get him to stay with her."

"Yes, because everything that comes out of your father's mouth is the goddam truth, isn't it, Malfoy?" Teddie asked. "I mean, look what he said about Buckbeak back in third year? He used his silver tongue to get Buckbeak killed."

Malfoy turned his glare onto Teddie. "You're going to believe _her_ over _me_?" he asked. "After everything I've been willing to do for you this year?"

"I don't need you to do anything for me," Teddie hissed. "Either of you," she looked to Parkinson. "We aren't friends, no matter how bad your parents want us to be."

Parkinson sniffed and turned her back on Teddie and company.

Marlene shot Teddie a small smile. "For what it is worth," she said, reaching for the pumpkin juice. "You can do much better than them as friends."

"I have better than them," said Teddie. "I have you. All of you," she added, looking around at the others.


	9. The Classroom Inquiries'

Despite being made High Inquisitor, Umbridge was not in any of Teddie's first three lessons that morning. But, when she arrived for Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon, she learned from Blaise and Daphne that the old toad had been in their last lesson, Divination.

"She followed Trelawney around like a buzzard after a kill," said Blaise. "That poor woman."

Daphne nodded her agreement. "I mean, I'm not Trelawney's biggest fan, but still. Umbridge had no right to treat her the way she did."

"She all-but demanded a prediction," said Blaise, shaking his head.

Theo furrowed his brow. "But predictions don't work like that," he said.

"That's what Trelawney said," said Daphne. "But Umbridge was insistent. She marked something down on her clipboard and went to leave, so Trelawney said she'd be in great danger."

Teddie rolled her eyes. "That's not going to help matters," she said. "Everyone thinks Trelawney is a quack. The more 'dangerous' a prediction the more satisfied she is."

"I think Potter would agree with you," said Daphne. "She read out some of his dream diary today, you could tell that he faked half of it, but she reckons he's going to die while changing his socks."

Teddie and Theo snorted.

As they were in the process of unpacking their _Defensive Magical Theory_ books, Umbridge entered the Defense classroom, smiling to herself as she approached her desk.

"Wands away," Umbridge instructed, setting her belongings down and turning to face her class. "As we finished chapter one last lesson, I would like you all to turn to chapter nineteen today and read chapter two. There will be no need to talk," she added, looking around at them all.

"No need to think is more like," Daphne muttered.

Teddie bit her lip, hard, to keep from laughing out loud. She wouldn't have put it past Umbridge to give her a detention for showing the slightest bit of happiness at this point.

Flipping to page nineteen, Teddie read the title – **Common Defensive Theories and Their Derivation.** The fifteen-year-old heaved a sigh, rested her elbow on the edge of the desk and perched her chin on the ball of her hand. While she did love reading, mostly mythologies, this was starting to get tedious. She had always been a more practical and visual learner, preferring to see something happening as opposed to just reading about it.

Suddenly, a folded-up piece of paper landed on Teddie's book. She blinked and glanced up, finding Daphne flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder. With a quick glance at Umbridge, Teddie unfolded the paper and furrowed her brow at the scratched words before her.

' _Don't look now, but Granger's at it again_.'

Teddie glanced over to the Gryffindor side of the room and, low and behold, Hermione sat with her hand in the air. Harry had always noticed, as did many other students in the class.

Umbridge, it seemed, had worked out a strategy. Instead of addressing Hermione straight out, and disrupting the class – not that it mattered, half of the students were watching Hermione anyway – she picked herself up, walked around the front desk, and leaned down to whisper to Hermione.

Despite her lips moving, no one but Harry, Ron, and Hermione could hear what Umbridge was saying.

"I've already read Chapter Two," said Hermione, in her normal voice.

Umbridge said again in a low voice.

"I've read that, too. I've read the whole book."

Teddie glanced at Daphne. The blonde smirked, and Teddie couldn't help but wonder what Umbridge would do now.

"Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counter jinxes in chapter fifteen," said Umbridge.

"He says that counter jinxes are improperly named," said Hermione. "He says that 'counter jinx' is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable."

Teddie bit the inside of her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling. She could almost imagine Mason doing something like this and made a mental note to remind him not too later that day.

"But I disagree," said Hermione, without skipping a beat.

Umbridge blinked. "You disagree?" she repeated.

"Yes, I do," said Hermione. "Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be especially useful when they're used defensively."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Umbridge asked. "Well, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger."

"But – "Hermione began.

"That is enough," said Professor Umbridge. She walked back to the front of the class and stood before them; all the jauntiness she had shown at the beginning of the lesson gone. "Miss Granger I am going to take five points from Gryffindor House."

There was an outbreak of muttering.

"What for?" Harry asked, angrily.

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions," said Professor Umbridge.

"She didn't interrupt anything," said Teddie.

Daphne, Blaise, and Theo groaned.

"I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little."

"How would you know what we know and don't know?" Teddie asked. "As you have said yourself, we've had four teachers prior to you that taught us different things, all of which were in different orders."

"Teddie, stop," Theo whispered, desperately.

But Teddie ignored him, her sights set on Umbridge.

"Your previous teachers, Miss Green, may have allowed you more license, but as none of them – with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects – would have passed a Ministry inspection –"

"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher," said Harry. "There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head, and let's not forget his unhealthy obsession with stalking eleven-year-old children."

Teddie cast her gaze down at her desk.

"I think another week's detention would do you some good, Mr. Potter," said Umbridge. "Miss Green, you will receive three additional nights."

"What for?" Teddie asked.

"Speaking out of turn," Umbridge answered.

Teddie clenched her jaw.

**~X~**

On Tuesday morning, Mason joined his sister at the Slytherin table and offered her a small bottle of Essence of Dittany. "Between two and three drops should be enough to heal your hand after tonight," he said. "You should also have enough spare for Harry, too."

"Thanks," Teddie muttered, taking the bottle and sliding it into the front pocket of her backpack.

"Maybe, if you kept your comments to yourself in Umbridge's lessons you wouldn't need the Essence," said Daphne.

Teddie shot her a cold look. "I'm not going to sit there and let her bully students," she growled.

"But you're taking punishment for people who wouldn't take them for you," Daphne argued.

"That doesn't matter."

"Doesn't it?"

Teddie shook her head. "Not for me. I don't care whether I am standing up for people who wouldn't do the same in return, no one deserves to be picked on, regardless of how they act," she said.

"She's right," said Mason. "You should see all the people back home that she stands up for. Not all of them deserve it, but she still does it. I mean, you know the stories of all the kids from Mill Town?"

Daphne nodded. "Yeah, they're the kids that pick on you in Spinners End for not having money," she said.

"Well, there was a group of them being picked on once by another group of rich kids," said Mason. "Despite knowing she wasn't welcome, Teddie stepped in and told the second lot to bugger off. It didn't change a whole lot between the two villages, but it was one less Mill town group picking on Spinner's End."

Teddie smiled and hugged her brother. "My mum and dad always used to encourage us to be friends with our enemies," she said. "I mean, you never know when your enemy becomes a friend. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that."

Blaise furrowed his brow. "Enemy of my Enemy?" he repeated.

"Yeah, so, for example, Harry is the enemy of Voldemort," Teddie rolled her eyes as her friends all shuddered at the name. "Voldemort is also my enemy; therefore, Harry and I are friends."

"Make sense, I think," said Marlene.

Teddie smiled. "The analogy works here, too," she said. "Umbridge is an enemy to all of us at Hogwarts this year, therefore all her enemies are, essentially, friends, even though we may not show it."

"That makes sense," said Marlene. "But not all friends are good friends, you know?"

"Oh, I know," said Teddie. "But, when it comes down to it, we'll have a common enemy to rebel against."

Mason rested his head against Teddie's shoulder and finished his milk. He checked his watch and gasped, his eyes widening. "It's nearly 9," he said. "We should get going, or else we're going to be late."

Gathering their things, the group of friends headed for the Entrance Hall. Marlene, Judy, Susan bade goodbye first and exited through the open doors, Mason and Astoria waved and hurried down to the dungeons, while Teddie, Theo, Daphne, and Blaise hurried up the Marble Staircase and onward to Double Charms.

**~X~**

"When do you plan on asking Professor Flitwick about being his teaching assistant?" Blaise asked Teddie as they filed out of Charms at 11am and headed down the corridor towards Transfiguration.

Teddie shrugged. She had been so busy with homework and detention that she had totally forgot to set time aside to find the Charms professor and ask him about taking Charms on as an extracurricular as well full-time. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had said no, given the amount of homework she had already for fifth year, but Mason had reassured her that she wouldn't have been the first student to take on extra work.

" _You could be a considered candidate for Head Girl if you take on more work than normal," Mason had said._

" _Doubtful," said Teddie, shaking her head. "I'm not a Prefect, so I can't be Head Girl."_

_Mason merely smiled. "You don't have to be Prefect to be Head Girl. You could still get it," he said. "I wonder what Mum and Dad would say if you got Head Girl?"_

" _Probably would ask who I bribed."_

_Mason laughed. "I do think they would wonder if you had been replaced or something?" he teased._

_Teddie grinned and ruffled his hair. "Well, if you don't make either a Prefect or even Head Boy then there is definitely something wrong with this schooling system," she said. "They'd be wrong to not pick you."_

_Mason beamed and hugged her tightly_

"Oh, great," said Daphne, drawing Teddie out of her memory as they entered the Transfiguration classroom. Professor Umbridge stood in the corner of the room, clipboard in one hand and a quill in the other, the feather of this quill was Green.

"Isn't that a Quick Notes Quill?" Teddie whispered as she took her seat beside Theo. He nodded. "Do you think it works the same as Skeeter's?"

Theo shrugged. "I guess we'll find out," he muttered as Professor McGonagall called for everyone's attention.

"That will do. Mr. Finnigan, kindly come here and hand back the homework – Miss Parkinson, please take this box of mice – don't be silly, girl, they won't hurt you – and hand one out to everyone."

Grumbling under her breath, Parkinson took the box and passed it around the classroom. She refused to reach in and pick up the mouse and made it so that everyone had to choose a mouse for themselves.

Teddie cooed and run her fingers over the fur of her white mouse. "It's okay, baby, I won't hurt you," she said.

The mouse twitched its nose and Teddie smiled.

"I thought you loved snakes?" Theo asked.

"I do," Teddie

"Don't snakes eat mice?"

Teddie rolled her eyes but smiled, nonetheless. "I never feed live mice to my snakes," she answered. "Even Merlin and Morgana are fed frozen ones."

"Where do you get frozen mice at Hogwarts?"

"We've been here five years and you're only now asking me that?" Teddie asked.

Theo shrugged. "I've never seen you coo over a mouse before," he said, retrieving his wand from his pocket.

Teddie set the mouse on the desk in front of her and pulled her own wand down from inside her sleeve. "I get them from Professor Snape," she answered. "He used to Floo back to Spinner's End, but we started to keep them at the school, and he would use magic to lower the temperature on an alcove in his office."

"Magical Freezer," Theo laughed.

"Yep. Even though he and I aren't on speaking terms, he's still gracious enough to let me use it."

"He must really want to talk to you, then."

Teddie shrugged.

"Are you ever going to?"

Again, Teddie shrugged. "I'm not ready to forgive him," she said. "Is that bad?"

"He rescued you from a place that no one else knew you had been taken," said Theo. "Like, he knew you would be taken all along and didn't think to warn you, I think he'd be lucky if you ever spoke to him again."

Teddie nodded slowly.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat from the corner of the room; every student turned in her direction, but Professor McGonagall ignored her.

"Right then, everyone, listen closely," said Professor McGonagall once Finnigan and Parkinson had retaken their seats. "Most of you have successfully vanished your snails and even those who have left with a certain amount of shell have the gist of the spell. Today we shall be – "

Umbridge cleared her throat, louder this time.

"Yes?" said Professor McGonagall, tensely.

"I was just wondering, Professor, whether you received the note telling you of the date and time your inspection – "

"Obviously, I received it, or I would have asked you what you are doing in my classroom," said Professor McGonagall.

Teddie, Daphne, Blaise, and Theo shared a look of amusement as McGonagall turned her back on Umbridge. They had been anticipating this moment, just like everyone else at Hogwarts.

"As I was saying, today we shall be practicing the altogether more difficult vanishment of mice. Now, the Vanishing Spell – "

Umbridge cleared her throat for a third time.

"I wonder," said Professor McGonagall in cold fury, turning on Umbridge. "how you expect to gain an idea of my teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking."

Teddie noted that Professor Umbridge looked like she had been slapped in the face and couldn't stop the smile that came to her face.

Umbridge snapped her mouth closed, straightened the parchment on her clipboard, and started to scribble away furiously.

"So much for it being a Quick Notes Quill," said Theo quietly.

Teddie nodded as she watched Umbridge from the corner of her eye.

"As I was saying, the Vanishing Spell becomes more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind on your dinner. So – you know the incantation, let me see what you can do…"

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, Mason!
> 
> Happy 3rd Anniversary, Teddie!
> 
> Happy New Year all. I hope 2021 is better for you!
> 
> ~Twix


End file.
